


Made to Suffer

by AshAlert



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: ALL THE GOOD STUFF, Abduction, Alternate Universe - Zombie Apocalypse, Ambiguous Race Keith (Voltron), Anxiety Attacks, Bisexual Lance (Voltron), Blood, Blood and Gore, Canon Gay Character, Car Accidents, Character Death, Cigarette torture, Cuban Lance (Voltron), Eventual Keith/Lance (Voltron), Falling In Love, Gay Shiro (Voltron), Graphic Violence, I accidentally self-projected onto Keith too much and now he has traits of autism, Italian Pidge | Katie Holt, Japanese Shiro (Voltron), Keith doesn't think sexuality is important in the zombie apocalypse but oh boy does he like boys, Kidnapping, Major Character Injury, Minor Character Death, Motorcycle Accidents, Multi, Non-Graphic Violence, Panic Attacks, Pansexual Hunk (Voltron), Post-Zombie Apocalypse, Queer Pidge | Katie Holt, Samoan Hunk (Voltron), Shiro (Voltron) is Missing, Trans Female Pidge | Katie Holt, Trans Keith (Voltron), Trans Male Keith (Voltron), Trans Pidge | Katie Holt, Vomiting, Zombie Apocalypse, Zombies, a baby and old woman die just a warning, i cant remember if someone throws up or not but just in case, oh boy here we go again, the third chapter has a lot of trigger warnings such as
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-24
Updated: 2019-01-31
Packaged: 2019-06-15 19:59:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 16
Words: 36,800
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15420483
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AshAlert/pseuds/AshAlert
Summary: One year after a zombie plague spreads throughout the US, the country is in decay. An unlikely team forms and survival is their only focus- but things get complicated when their are shambling corpses everywhere, even romance.





	1. 1- Radio Static

May 1st, 20XX

 

_ ‘One year since the outbreak. We’re nearly out of food. Dad and Matt haven’t come back from they’re work yet, but Mom refuses to let me go search. She left eight days ago to find food. I’m trying to stay positive. She’ll come back home. She has to come back home.  _

 

_ I wonder if any kids from college are okay, any teachers even. Most of us had even a tiny bit of combat training- I guess I got the short end of the stick on that though. _

 

_ It’s sad, really. The only company I have now is this dumb journal Mom told me to kept from going crazy, getting too anxious, and the radio I’m working on. I could try talking to the family photos, but I don’t think that would be good for me. The radio is almost working, at least I think so. If Matt wouldn’t have dropped it when we moved in, this wouldn’t be a problem. _

 

_ I miss him too much to be angry. _

 

_ I think I’ll put a small solar panel on the back if I can figure that out, shouldn’t be too hard, right? I don’t want it dying when I’m talking to somebody. If I can find anybody at all, that is. Maybe Dad will pick up if I’m lucky. The company he and Matt work for always keeps their radios on. _

 

_ I’m going to find my family. If I can just work up the guts to leave. Mom- I’m going to leave a note for her as well as a walkie talkie. That way, when she comes back, she can contact me. If I don’t find them before that happens, I’ll come back and we can go search for them together. I need them back. I can tell she needs them back too. _

 

_ The radio isn’t gonna work on itself. I’ll fix it this evening and leave tomorrow morning if I get it working in time.  _

  
  


_ -Pidge’ _

  
  


Closing her journal, she walks to the windows, peeking through the spaces between the wooden boards they had placed. The dead were attracted to light, at least they figured it out before it was too late. The streets looked clear. That was good and bad. No signs of dead, but no signs of family either. She sighed and went to the kitchen to work on the radio. She could get it working by tonight, no doubt.

 

While she worked, she began to worry. What happens when her mom comes back while she’s gone? What happens if she dies while she’s out there and her mom is forced to stay indoors, never knowing the truth about what happened to her? What happens if she doesn’t hear anything on this Godforsaken-

 

“-ro?”

 

Static cut through the air loudly. Pidge gasped as she quickly moved to turn the volume down. She sat in amazement for a minute, just staring and listening to the voice on the radio.

 

“Shiiiiiiirooo.... Shiro. Shiro?” The voice whined, “Day 462, Shiro, come on… Answer me already. I’m going crazy out here. Oh- hold on. There’s a walker.” Pidge could tell the guy ran at the zombie and killed it, but couldn’t hear a gunshot. His breath was slightly labored when he came back. “Okay, soooo… three walkers. Shiro, I’ve looked everywhere, where are you?”

 

She reached for the walkie talkie and held the button, but no words would come out. She released it and ran a hand through her hair. There was a real human on the other end, why couldn’t she say anything. Apparently, he could tell.

 

“...Hello? Is someone there? Shiro? How are you-? Why aren’t you talking? Shiro?..”

 

“Hello? My name is Pidge. Who is this?”

 

She heard the voice grumble something about her not being this ‘Shiro’ guy, “My name is Keith. Who are you?”

 

“I already told you my name!”

 

“I meant  _ who are you _ . What are you doing on this channel.” He demanded the answer.

 

“My name is Katie Holt, my family calls me Pidge. I live in Flagstaff. My mom hasn’t come back since last week so I was fixing this radio to keep myself occupied.”

 

“Geez… How old are you, Kid?”

 

“I’m not a kid! I’m 20!” She defended herself.

 

“Right, right, okay.”

 

“Who is Shiro?..” 

 

Keith was silent for a few seconds, “Don’t worry about it. Where in Flagstaff did you live?”

 

“I still live there. We boarded up the windows and all doors except one.”

 

“Jesus Christ, do you know how many zombies are there?..” He sounded astounded, which meant the question probably meant something more along the lines of ‘Jesus Christ, how are you not dead yet?.’

 

“Don’t remind me,” She sighed, “I looked outside a while ago and there weren’t any on the road though.”

 

“Must live on the outskirts then.”

 

“Wait, does that mean you’re close?”

 

“I… I am not. I just know my way around that area.” Keith seemed hesitant, “You trust easily, don’t you?”

 

“Why wouldn’t I trust you? You’re human.”

 

Another pause, “That’s the exact reason you  _ shouldn’t _ trust me, Pidge.”

 

“I don’t get it…”

 

“You have any guns?”

 

“My mom took one, but we have two others. Why?”

 

“Whatever you do, do not shoot them.”

 

“What?! Why?! How else would I kill the dead people?”

 

“Sharp objects. Break off a piece of a chair or something, stab it through their brains. Sound attracts them. Again- do not shoot unless you have absolutely no choice or a death wish.”

 

Pidge gulped, “Got it.”

 

“Yeah…”

 

He was silent for a while. Pidge panicked. What if he died within the three minutes they stopped talking to each other? She can’t be alone again.

 

“Keith?”

 

“Yeah?”

 

“I thought you were dead. Where did you go?”

 

“I’m offended, Pidge, I don’t go down that easy. I was searching for a place to stay the night, still am.”

 

“Oh… Well, tell me when you find someplace.” 

 

“Alright?” He didn’t seem to understand why she cared so much, but this was the first person other than her mom that Pidge had seen in over six months! She was excited.

 

Pidge raced to get her journal and write everything down. What did this guy look like, she wondered? She doodled little ideas of possibilities. His voice was kinda raspy, maybe he was strong and tall? For some reason she could see him being at least 6’0”, muscular, probably black hair, and dark brown eyes. From what she heard, he seemed kinda goofy, but his attitude hardened when he realized he was being listened to. So- one of those teddy bear inside and rough outside types. He was definitely searching for someone, but she didn’t know who. Maybe she could coax the answer out of him tonight.

 

“Pidge?” 

 

She smiled and hurried to answer, “You safe?”

 

“Only took an hour, but yeah, I should be safe for tonight.”

 

“Should be?”

 

“I’ve been out here for over a year, it’s best not to have false hope.”

 

“That’s sad… Wait, did you say over a year? This thing has only lasted one year so far.”

 

“Oh- Well, I guess I just lost track of time.”

 

This wasn’t adding up in Pidge’s head. Keith was lying. But what did he have to lie about?

 

“Why are you lying to me?..”

 

He was silent.

 

“Keith?”

 

“Goodnight, Pidge.”

 

“Keith, wait, answer me, please.” She pleaded, but tried not to be too loud. Night time meant the zombies couldn’t see as well, but that also meant their sense of hearing was heightened.

 

Keith didn’t answer for the rest of the night.

  
  


-xxx-

 

_ May 2nd, 20XX, 8:15am _

 

“Shit!” Pidge shot up from her seat, she fell asleep next to the radio in hope that Keith would eventually answer her. Of course, she didn’t have much hope for that, but that didn’t mean she would get up. She started gathering everything she needed to take outside with her. 

 

“Backpack, food, water, gun and ammo just in case,” Pidge looked around and found her vision settling on a dining chair. She checked to see if the road was clear and upon confirming it, smashed the chair against the refrigerator. “Chair leg weapon thing.” The next thing was to leave the note for her mom.

 

After that, she decided to check up on Keith again. 

 

“Keith? You awake yet?”

 

Silence.

 

“Keith? Are you okay?.. Keith?”

 

She started to panic over this guy  _ again _ and  _ again _ she didn’t really understand it.

 

“I’m fine. I’ve been awake since a little bit before sunrise.”

 

“Thank God you’re okay.”

 

“I don’t think that has anything to do with it.”

 

“You gonna tell me about yourself now?”

 

“...What is there to tell?”

 

“Well, what do you look like? I have some guesses.”

 

That actually elicited a chuckle from the other end, “ _ Well _ , tell me some of your guesses and I’ll tell you which is closest.”

 

“Okay, here we go-”

 

For the next hour or so, Pidge was listing off different personas to him. Every once in a while he’d input something like ‘I wish’ or ‘Not even close, Kid’ and very rarely a ‘Kinda correct.’ 

So what she was inferring was that this guy didn’t look anything like what she thought he would. 

“Are you blond?”

 

“What? No way.”

 

“What color is your hair then?”

 

“Black.”

 

“I said that already!”

 

“Yeah, but you also said it was short.”

 

“So it’s long and black?”

 

“About shoulder length, if not a little more” 

 

“You must burn up out there during the day… You still haven’t told me what you look like.”

 

“Black hair, my eyes are a weird color grey, I’m 5’8” last time I checked. Now you go.”

 

“Okay! I’m 5’4”-”

 

She could hear his muffled laughter on the other line.

 

“Hey! Me being short isn’t funny!”   
  


“Right, sorry.” She could tell he wasn’t.

 

“Mhm. Now, back to what I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted. I’m short, my eyes are brown, hair is light brown, I’m not very strong, but I am smart. I went to a college just North of here before all of this started. I have a mom and dad and one older brother- Colleen, Samuel, and Matt.”

 

“I could tell you’re smart.”

 

“How?”

 

“Well, y-”

 

There was screaming outside. Right outside her door. 

 

“Keith, someone’s outside screaming.” Pidge gripped onto the walkie talkie until her knuckles turned white. 

 

“Pidge, listen to me,  _ do not go outside _ . They will be fine.”

 

“I can help them!”

 

“Pidge! Stay inside!”

 

She muted the device and stuck it onto her belt, running downstairs and grabbing her bag and the broken chair leg. Her hand froze when it landed on the doorknob.  _ ‘You can do this, Pidge.’  _ She encouraged herself and finally got the nerve to go outside.

It was actually two people. Both of them kinda tall, with different shades of dark skin. Pidge found the reason for their screaming- a zombie chasing them. Well, not chasing, it wasn’t walking fast, but it was still fairly close to catching up with them. Another two people. People she could see. Call it instinct, but she had to save them.

 

“HEY!!!” Pidge picked up a stone and threw it at the zombie. The stone hit its leg, but that was enough to get the zombie’s attention. 

 

“Oh, shit…”

 

Decaying eyes glared at her, its focus quickly shifting from the two men and onto her. Her mind raced, trying to remember if Keith had said anything about killing them. Aim for the brain with a sharp object? Keep the mouth away at all costs? Survive, you Dumbass? Sounds like something he would say.

 

The zombie broke out into a jog like pace, faster than any she had seen before. Again, she picked up a stone, this time throwing as hard as she could, aimed for the legs. It was getting closer and closer, closing in on her. She kept throwing the fist-sized stones at it, thankfully it stumbled and fell on its face near the mailbox.

 

This was her chance, maybe her only one, in fact.

 

Pidge sprinted for the zombie and held on tight to the chair leg.  _ ‘You can do this. You can do this. You can do this. Save those two humans. You can do this.’  _ She sank her weapon into its skull- right into the brain like Keith had told her. 

 

It was then that the smell hit her. Repugnant decay. It was the worst thing she had ever smelled. Worst than bad eggs, worse than moth balls, worse than expired milk- This was rotted  _ human  _ flesh. She vomited right then and there. 

 

Pidge could hear two guys walk up to her cautiously. She lost sight of them before when she was focused on the zombie. Looking up at them, they looked friendly. The bigger man’s dark brown eyes were staring at her with worry.

 

“Are you bitten? Did it get you?” The lanky one kicked at the corpse, looking back to her after he was sure it was dead.

 

“I’m- I’m good.” She wiped her watery eyes with her upper arm, not even wanting to imagine what would happen if she got the monsters blood in her eyes, “Who are you two? I haven’t seen a living person in a week.”

 

“I’m Hunk,” The big one smiled and went to shake her hand, but upon seeing the blood, cleared his throat and motioned to his partner, “and this is Lance.” 

 

She smiled back at him and started wiggling the chair leg out of the corpse’s skull, “My name is Pidge. I think that’s the first one I’ve ever killed.”

 

“What? You’re kidding. No way that’s the first one, you knew exactly how to kill it though!”

 

“Lance, be quiet, there might be more of them.” Hunk warned.

 

These two didn’t seem like the brightest, but at least the were living and talking. For a split second, she thought about going along with them, following wherever they go, but she had a mission to accomplish. 

 

It wouldn’t hurt asking them what direction they were going though, right?

 

“Where are you guys headed?”

 

“Well, we came from the South. We were hoping that if we get farther North that we can stop overheating and drinking so much water every day.”

 

_ ‘This is perfect.’ _ She thought to herself.

 

“Can I come with you?” Without even thinking, the words came out of her mouth. She had to explain first though, right? “I’m searching for my dad and brother. They were at my college when this whole thing started, they worked there.

 

“Wait, you talking about the Garrison?” Lance questioned, resting an elbow on Hunk’s shoulder.

 

“Yes. Do you know it?”

 

“Do we know it? We went there before all of,” Hunk motioned to literally everything around them, “this.”

 

Pidge gasped. These people went to The Garrison, that meant her dad and Matt had an even better chance of being okay. “Did you know Professor Holt?”

 

“I don’t think so. I’m pretty sure I heard his name around a couple times though.”

 

“So, can I come with you?!” She said excitedly.

 

The two men looked at each other and then back to her. Shrugging, they gave her her answer.

 

“Sure. We can just leave another human behind, can we?” Lance smiled.

 

Hunk rolled his eyes, “It doesn’t matter if we can’t. We wouldn’t, Lance.”

 

Too caught up in her excitement, Pidge completely forgot about the muted radio on her belt.

 

\---

 

_ May 2nd, 20XX, 5:02pm _

 

They had made it about an hour, maybe three miles, before they had to stop. Of course, they took breaks, they had to with how warm it was. However, they came across a tiny problem. Scratch that- a HUGE problem. 

 

A herd.

 

Tens of them, blocking the road. They could have doubled back, find another road, but they had to have a map for that- none of them knew this part of town by heart. They debated after they made space between them and the herd.

 

“We cannot go back there do you not remember how many zombies there were?”

 

Lance sighed, he didn’t want to go back, “We can’t go forwards either, Hunk. The city is the only option, we have to turn around.”

 

“We could wait in a car.” The other two could tell that Hunk was seconds away from a panic attack. 

 

“A car? The glass wouldn’t hold if that herd notices us in a car. Let’s just go back before we can’t go back at all. We’ll settle down for the night in the first house we can before sundown.”

 

“And tomorrow we’ll search around to see if we can find a map.”

 

The trip back into the city wasn’t as bad at the one from it. They spent most of the time talking about their life before the dead started walking.

 

Hunk was from Samoa, he had two moms back there, but he considered a lot of people there close enough to call family. He had a pet named Butterball too, a beige cat with yellow eyes, and a love for chewing up straws. He was in the US for college, The Garrison, for engineering and mechanics.

 

Lance had come from Cuba for the same thing expect he was studying astronomy and astrophysics. He had an abundance of family as well, he went on naming every single person he could think of and it took about 15 minutes. He liked to swim and play guitar in his freetime, before the apocalypse, of course.

 

They eventually came across a house and settled down for the night. The plan for the next morning was discussed again. Find a map, maybe stop by a dollar store to look for food. Pidge didn’t think about that. The two guys only had enough snacks to last them a few days and she only brought a little bit for herself so she wouldn’t leave her mom with nothing upon returning. In all, they had enough for four days

 

It finally dawned on Pidge while she was laying down to sleep.

 

_ The radio. Keith. He probably thought she was dead. _

 

She jolted up from her place on the ground and reached for the radio on her belt. Lance and Hunk were two rooms over, but she still kept the volume extremely low. Was Keith even okay still?

 

“Keith? Are you there?”   
  


“Pidge?!” The response was almost immediate.

 

“I’m okay.”

 

“Oh my God, I thought you got kidnapped or eaten or both!”

 

She giggled, “Aww. Tough guy cares about me.”

 

“I- No. You’re just better to talk to than my sword is.”

 

“That’s… Harsh…” Pidge frowned.

 

“That’s for both of our safety, trust me on that.”

 

He sounded sad, worse than Pidge had heard before. She didn’t know if it would help to keep talking or not, but she was tired of the silence.

 

“Hey, I killed it- the zombie outside. That’s why the people outside were screaming, it was chasing them.”

 

“You should have listened to me.”

 

“I know, but if I did, those two guys could have died…”

 

“Your safety comes first. Okay? Where are they?”

 

“In the next to next room over.”

 

Silence. 

 

“Keith?”

 

More silence.

 

“Keith, are you there?”

 

“You- Let me get this straight. You let them in your house?” 

 

Uh oh. He was mad.

 

“Well, no. I went with them... We tried heading up North to The Garrison, but there was a herd of zombies blocking the road so we turned back towards the city and found an empty house to stay the night in.”

 

“Are they safe? Have they tried to hurt you?”

 

Pidge scoffed, “They’re really nice actually. They went to the same college as I did.”

 

“The  _ second _ something goes wrong, you contact me, got it?”

 

“Why are you telling me to do that if you don’t care?”

 

“Because I know how people are. There are no good survivors left.”

 

“What about you?”

“I’m far from a good person, Pidge.”

 

“I don’t believe you. You keep lying to me. You say that you don’t care, but I can hear it in your voice that you do. You keep contradicting yourself too! First you weren’t near me, then you knew I was on the outskirts of the city, and now you’re saying that I'm supposed to tell you if something goes wrong? Why? So you can come save me? Where in the Hell are you?”

 

“I’m… In town.”

 

“Wait, so you’re close to us?

 

“How about you tell me, Kid.”

 

A horn. A car horn outside, a good distance away, but with the hustle and bustle of the city completely gone, she could still hear it.

 

“What are you doing?! That sounded like you were in the city! You’re going to be swarmed!”

 

“Like they’d be able to catch me?” He sighed, “Actually, the runners probably could.”

 

Pidge froze up, “Runners?”

 

“Gotta go, can’t climb and talk at the same time. Goodnight, Pidge.”

 

She frowned, “Be careful, Keith. Goodnight.”


	2. 2- Observation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Our trio finds a map.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As you can see, comments help my motivation a lot. :)

_ May 3rd, 20XX, 2:00am _

 

Knocking. There was  _ knocking  _ on their door. Pidge could hear it- loud and arrhythmic. Surely Hunk and Lance had heard it too. She groggily sat up, hand immediately reaching to hook the walkie talkie to her belt.

 

“Who is it?” She heard Hunk’s voice as she rounded the corner of the darkened hallway.

 

There were a few seconds of silence before Lance spoke, “Shit! Get down!” He practically pulled Hunk to the ground, covering his mouth as well. Without second thought, Pidge did the same. 

 

She could see the fear in Lance’s eyes. Whatever was outside almost certainly wanted to kill them. She could probably contact Keith, but what would he be able to do? He was all the way in the city. 

 

_ ‘This is life or death for you and two other people, Pidge. You have to do something.’  _

 

She grabbed the walkie talkie and made sure the volume was on low.

 

“Keith? Keith, I need help.” Her voice was just a whisper.

 

No answer. Of course no answer, it was still dark outside. Why would he be awake?

 

“Pidge, who are you talking to?” Lance asked. He was too loud. He was way too loud.

 

The knocking on the door turned into pounding. She could now confirm that it was definitely a zombie and it knew they were inside. Again, she tried the radio, but this time she didn’t care about whispering. 

 

“Keith, there’s a zombie at the front door! We don’t know what to do! Please answer me!” Tears started to slip down her face and she started shaking. He couldn’t hear her. She needed to be louder.

 

“KEITH!!!” 

  
  


“Pidge?” He had been asleep. Oops.

 

Pidge let go of the breath she didn’t realize she was holding, “Keith, there’s a zombie pouding on to door, what do we do?!”

 

“Deep breaths, Pidge. Is it just one of them?”

She crawled over to the window and peeked outside. One zombie at the door, others on the road, not paying attention to their base.

 

“Um- there’s…” She was trying her best to steady her breathing, “There’s only one at the door, yeah. There are other ones on the road though.”

 

“First, you’re going to tell those guys to move the couch in front of the door. Okay?”

 

“Okay.” She turned to the two men, “Get the couch in front of the door.”

 

“That’ll make more sound!”

 

Hunk had a point, but she was not going to question Keith. He probably had more of an idea about how to survive these things than all three of them combined. She gave them a look and the two didn’t hesitate to run over to the couch and start moving it.

 

“Done. What now?”

 

“You wait.”

 

“We… What?” Her voice was quiet. How were they just going to wait while there is a flesh-eating monster pounding at the door? “You can’t be serious…”

 

“It’s the best option.”

 

Lance had had about enough of the secrecy, “Pidge, who are you talking to?”

 

“You’re also going to need to shut that guy up. At this rate, even the walkers around  _ me  _ will hear him.”

 

Lance’s face twisted into a look of spite and he was about to say something back until Keith interrupted him. For the first time that she had heard, his voice was soft and caring. He was definitely trying to calm her down.

 

“I know it’s going to be difficult, Pidge, but you have to trust me. The walker will leave when it hears something else. Just stay quiet, in the dark, out of sight, and stay safe. Can you do that for me?”

 

“I don’t think I can, Keith. What if it gets in?” Pidge was starting to panic again.

 

For the first time that she had heard, his voice was soft and caring. He was definitely trying to calm her down. “Hey, even if it did, you already killed one walker, what’s another to a strong girl like you? It won’t get in. I promise. Distract yourself. Could you draw some more pictures? Try drawing the two guys you’re with.”

 

“I’ll draw them in my journal.”

 

“You’re journal? That’s a great idea.”

 

Pidge smiled, slowly calming down, “My mom told me to keep journals so I didn’t go crazy.”

 

“Smart woman. She sounds wonderful.”

 

“She was.”

 

“She  _ is _ , Pidge.”

 

“Yeah… She is… I’ll talk to soon, Keith.”

 

“Stay safe.”

 

“You too.” 

 

_ ‘May 3rd, 20XX, 2:30am _

 

_ There’s a zombie outside. It’s pounding at the door.  _ _  Keith told me not to think about our problem.  Hunk and Lance are playing tic-tac-toe, drawing on the floor with a permanent marker, but Lance doesn’t seem good at losing. He keeps connecting his X’s with lines and smiling even though they don’t make a straight three-in-a-row line. (The last one looked more like the big dipper constellation.)  _

_ Hunk has really dark hair, almost black, and it comes to about his jawline. His eyes are a chocolate brown, only a slightly lighter shade than his skin. There are a few scratches on his legs, he has probably fallen a lot. He also looks like he’s dressed for the beach, not the apocalypse. The tank top he is wearing is striped: red, orange, and yellow, and he’s wearing tan cargo shorts. Probably the worst outfit to wear, actually. At least he has sneakers on. _

_ Lance isn’t the worst dressed for this scenario, I think, but he has definitely burning up during the day time. Blue jeans and a grey t-shirt with a little pocket that had a small shark printed inside. Not going to lie, I’d love to have that shirt if it didn’t have any holes in it. He has sneakers on too. I wonder if these are the same clothes they were wearing on the day everything went to Hell, they seem very in character. Lance seems like the type to get excited when shark week came around and go all out for it.   _

_ I’ll draw them now.’ _

  
  


-xxx-

Four hours. Hunk had  _ somehow  _ fallen asleep and so had Pidge. “Unbelievable.” Lance mumbled under his breath. He had scooted himself to the window after he got tired of losing 9-33, checking for the undead at least every five minutes. Finally, at a little past sunrise, the monster turned away and left them alone. At first, he had contemplated waking his teammates up and telling them the good news, but he knew they needed to rest. 

 

Lance decided to be nosey instead. He grabbed Pidge’s small green backpack she had brought along and started to shift through it. Food, four bottles of water, a shitload of pencils, a couple books, and a change of clothes- including a pair of round-frame glasses. He wondered why she wasn’t wearing them if they were in there, but it wasn’t like he could ask. Then she would know he looked through her stuff. 

 

Now he was completely out of things to do. 

 

Until his eyes found the walkie talkie.

 

He crawled over and grabbed it, spinning it around and trying to figure out how it worked. His best guess was the button on the upper right side. He held it down.

 

“Hey, you there?”

 

“Where’s Pidge?” He seemed worried.

 

“She’s asleep.”

 

“Is she okay?”

 

“She’s fine, calm down.”

 

“You did not just tell me to calm down.”

 

“I did. What’s your relation to her anyway? Are you her brother? I thought you were missing.”

 

“I’m not her brother and there isn’t a relation. I’ve only known her about two days.”

 

“Wow, that’s kind of creepy.”

 

“What are you doing with her radio?”

 

“I got bored and she didn’t give me answers. So, who are you?”

 

“Who are you?”

 

“I asked you first.” Lance frowned.

 

“I asked you second, what’s your point?”

 

Man, Lance was already starting to hate this guy.

 

“Okay, Mister High-and-Mighty, my name is Lance.”

 

“Keith.”

 

“What? No, no, no, I said Lance, not-”

 

“Keith is my name, Idiot.”

 

Oh. Lance’s face flushed in embarrassment.

 

“I knew that!”

 

“Clearly you didn’t.”

 

Lance heard growling. Quickly, he checked the window, but there were no zombies in sight. Perfect time to leave, but the others looked so peaceful he would feel bad if he woke them up. The only logical conclusion was that the growling was coming from the other end of the radio.

 

“Keith? Are there zombies around you?”

 

“Yes. I’m working on it.”

 

“You’re what?”

 

“I said-!” A grunt and a sigh, “I said I’m working on it!”

 

“What are you doing?”

 

“Killing them! What does it sound like?!”

 

“I don’t think you want me to answer that, Dude.”

 

“Oh, grow up.” Keith sounded really annoyed, “How have you stayed alive this long.”

 

Ouch. That kind of stung. 

 

“I’m good at stealth and my buddy is good at scavenging.”

 

“Either one of you know how to hunt?”

 

“No. Why?”

 

“Because I don’t think Pidge knows how to either and I have a feeling that ‘scavenging’ means that you’re living on vitamin supplements and expired candy bars.”

 

“You…” He wanted to make a counter argument, “You are good at this.”

 

“I’ve seen how a lot of people survive.”

 

“How long did the ones like us survive?”

 

“How am I supposed to know? I don’t have contact with them anymore.”

 

“Where are you?”   
  


“City.”

 

“Would it be possible for you to… come get us, maybe?”

 

An immediate answer, “No. Absolutely not.”

 

“Come on! You seem like you know what you’re doing! We need help!”

 

“Quiet or you’ll wake Pidge.”   
  


“Hunk is sleeping too.”

 

“I don’t care about Hunk.”

 

“Why can’t you come get us?”

 

“I don’t do groups.”

 

“Hey, no one said you had to  _ ‘do’  _ anybody.” Lance joked, but there was no response, “You must be a delight to have at parties.”

 

“Listen, I’m not going to listen to you joking about this. This is survival, not a college frat party.”

 

“Unfortunately, yeah.”

 

“It’s six-thirty, wake Pidge up and get moving if it’s clear outside. You’re looking for a map, right?”

 

“...Yeah. Did she tell you?”

 

“Yes. Where are you know?”

 

“North Fremont Boulevard? I don’t know.”

 

“Can you see any identifiers?”

 

“I mean, there’s a bus stop and tennis court across the road, other than that, no.”

 

“Okay and you’re trying to make it to The Garrison…” Lance heard papers flipping, “That’s approximately… 140. At the least it would take, what, two days on foot? However, zombies were blocking that road, so you need another route. Keep North. That would take you along Shultz Pass and you should follow that until you get to… Unnamed. Why are all these roads unnamed?”

 

“I don’t know?”

 

“I was talking to myself. Not you.”

 

“ _ Anyway _ , there’s a road that kinda connects to Highway 89 and- are you writing this down?”

 

“...Should I be?”

 

“Jesus fucking Christ…”

 

Exasperation. Lance had definitely heard that emotion before. Nearly every time he had spoken to his dad, in fact.

 

“Just- Wake up Pidge. Right now.”

 

“Okay, okay, sheesh.”

 

Lance shook her shoulder, trying to get her to wake up. He called her name gently a few times until it worked. Pidge saw the radio in his hand and immediately glared at him. She snatched it from his hand, “What time is it?”

 

“Pidge, thank God. Never let that idiot have the radio ever again.”

 

“I can still hear you!” Lance yelled.

 

“Once again, I don’t care.”

 

Pidge laughed, “What happened?”

 

“Nothing that I would like to talk about again. I have an idea, but you’d have to go further on in the city. Are you okay with that?”

 

“What’s the idea?”

 

“I’m going to give you my map.”

 

“Wait, you’re meeting us?! Where?!” She asked happily. If he joined them then they could definitely survive! 

 

“No. Do you know where the Lowell Observatory is?”

 

“Yeah.” There goes that idea.

 

“I’m leaving the map at Lowell Observatory, on a bench in front of the Steele Visitor Center. Stone building, three blue-ish, triangle roofs on the entrance, and solar panels, there’s a metal planet in front, can’t miss it. Head out as soon as you can, alright?”

 

“Why won’t you join us?”

 

“I can’t. I have other things to do. Do you understand where the map is?”

 

“Is it because of that ‘Shiro’ person?”

 

He was desperately trying to change the subject, ignoring every word she said, “ _ Pidge _ , where will the map be. Repeat it to me.”

 

She sighed, “Lowell Observatory, Steele Center, bench.” 

 

“Steele Visitor Center. What’s out front?”

 

“A metal planet thing.”

 

“Good. The map will be there when you arrive.”

 

“Thanks, Keith.”

 

He said nothing back. 

 

“I still think you should come with us, you know.”

 

-xxx-

_ May 3rd, 20XX, 9:25am _

 

It took about an hour and a half for them to reach the observatory without any zombies seeing them. (To Hunk, most of the trip felt like it was spent making it up the winding road that led to the observatory itself.) They ate on the way there. Well, it only consisted of two granola bars for each one of them, but they were going out to find more food right after they left this place. At least, that’s what Hunk had said.

 

“Blue roof building?! There’s two of them!”

 

“Actually, there’s three here. Have you never been here, Lance?”

 

“No, why?”

 

“I just thought you were into astronomy since that was kind of your major and all. Nevermind.”

 

“Wait… Does this place have a telescope?”

 

“Of course it does. It’s an observatory. You know, for space?”

 

Keith’s voice came through the radio at that moment, “Pidge, you there yet?”

 

“Yeah. We’re here. Heading to the visitor center now.”

 

“Good. Only get the map, then head out again. You guys need to have as much time on the road as possible.”

 

Hunk narrowed his eyes at the radio, but didn’t say a word.

 

“Alright. I got it.” Pidge smiled and picked up the map. 

 

It had markings all over. Some in red pen, some in black. She could tell Keith had written notes on it. There was one in red, marking the very observatory they were in, but it was scribbled out. She could barely make out the words ‘eighth signal.’ 

 

“Hey, Keith, what does ‘eighth signal’ mean?”

 

“Nothing to you. Keep moving.”

 

“He is  _ very  _ persistent about us leaving, huh?” Hunk raised an eyebrow, “Lance wants to look around though. I think we should.”

 

“Yeah! We need to see the telescope!”   
  


“Totally. We could search the place for… supplies?” Hunk grinned. He could tell Keith was probably clenching his fist and trying not to seem upset.

 

He was failing though.

 

“You know what? Fine. Look around. Knock yourselves out.” Yep. He was upset.

 

Hunk grabbed the walkie talkie and and made sure Keith couldn’t hear them, whispering to his group, “He’s definitely around here somewhere.”

 

“You think we could talk him into joining us?”   
  


“Probably not. I already asked.” Lance rolled his eyes, “But if anyone could talk him into it, Pidge, it’s you.”

 

“Let’s try to make as many dumb choices as we can and see if he tries to stop us.”

 

“Great idea.” Hunk smiled.

 

“Okay we’re going to point at different areas and then we’re going to start walking away. Then, I’m only going to tell him we split up after three minutes, then we’ll meet back here. If he mentions something about splitting up before then, then we have confirmation that he’s here and we can confidently tell him that.”

 

Hunk and Lance both nodded and started pointing different directions than Pidge, making up something about how interesting that direction was, just in case Keith could hear them.

 

“That building has got to have  _ something _ good in it, right?”

 

“Yeah, but the telescope is over  _ there _ , Hunk. Let’s go that way!”

 

“The buildings closest to the road are probably empty, raided first. We should go further on back to search for things.” Pidge stated, frowning to better her acting.

 

“Maybe we should split up and spread out. We each have a backpack, if you find anything good, throw it in there. We could get way more stuff like that, right?”

 

“Good idea, Hunk!”

 

They smiled and turned away from each other, walking in different directions. Pidge hoped that Keith could see her eyes because she glanced at her radio at least every ten seconds. Then again, he only cared about her safety, not the two others, so he was probably only watching her. 

 

“Pidge? You okay out there?”

 

“Yeah, I’m all good.” She grinned, “Just looking for supplies.”

 

“Oh…” She could tell he wanted to say something else, but he was refraining.

 

“So, Keith, tell me about yourself. Something other than that you don’t like talking about yourself.”

 

Keep him talking, maybe you can hear his voice somewhere.

 

“Not much to say.”

 

“Really? Where have you been living since this whole thing?”

 

“I move around a lot. You can never be too careful, right?” He kept his composure.

 

“Right, I see. What’s your favorite color? Mine’s lime green.”

 

“Purple.”

 

“What about favorite animal? I like owls.”

 

“Hippo.”

 

She was getting short answers. He was clearly getting more and more nervous. She needed a question that couldn’t be answered with one word.

 

“What did you do before all of this?”

 

He thought about it, he was probably going to lie, “Just, work, you know?”

 

“What kind of work? I know you weren’t a lawyer.”

 

“What makes you say that?”

 

“Oh, nothing much. Just that- you’re a horrible liar, Keith.” She laughed.

 

He didn’t respond.

 

“So? Where’d you work? What were your hobbies?”

 

“Anywhere I could. I liked gardening and drawing.”

 

“Nice! Gardening is cool. What are your favorite plants to grow?”

 

“Baby’s Breath and White Violets.”

 

“Small flowers, cute!”

 

Again, no response.  _ Someone _ was close to him.

 

“What about your dream vacation?” 

 

“Doesn’t matter now.”

 

“Of course it does! Dreams are amazing!”

 

“Pidge, quiet down.”

 

“Listen, Buddy, I know  _ you’re  _ whispering, but I don’t have to. There are no zombies in sight and it’s amazing!”

 

Silence.

 

“You know, since the group split up, it’s kinda quiet. Very enjoyable…” She sighed happily.

 

“You… You what?” His voice was still quiet, but he didn’t waste a millisecond with his response, “Pidge, get back in your group, now.”

 

“Why? It’s completely safe, Keith. No zombies in sight.”

 

“Pidge, listen to me. Re-group. Now. ”

 

“You’re so adamant about me getting back into a group, but what about you?”

 

“Pidge…”

 

“You could be in a group if you wanted to be, Keith.”

 

“There could be walkers anywhere around you, why are you pushing this now?” He was clearly mad, but still restraining his volume a bit, most likely so they wouldn’t find him.   
  


She was halfway back to the meeting spot already.

 

“Because I care about your safety, Keith.”

 

“You shouldn’t.”

 

“Why not?” She asked, she looked up to see Hunk and Lance waiting for her, she smiled at them.

 

“I’m not worth risking your life to find.”

 

“So, you are still here. Come out then.”

 

“No.”

 

“Keith-”

 

“I’m not there.”

 

“Why do you keep lying to me?”

 

She heard an electronic beep from the other end of the radio, “You need to leave, Pidge.”

 

“Why?”

 

“Please… Please listen to me.”

 

Pidge sighed and looked up at her group, shaking her head and motioning to the road. She knew that he was somewhere at this observatory. She could feel it. Why didn’t he want to come out? They were so close, why was he being so stubborn?

 

“...Fine. We’ll leave if you  _ aren’t here _ . As you wish.” She started the trek down the long, winding road once again. Hunk and Lance following only after they shared a disappointed look.

 

They finally got to the bottom of the road. Hunk had to sit down and Lance was complaining about his legs burning. She tossed each of them a bottle of water. Only when she sat down did Keith contact her again.

 

“You should cut your hair, Pidge.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So close yet so far, Pidge.
> 
>  
> 
> Tumblr: ash-alert


	3. 3- 'This Won't Last Forever, Don't Get Your Hopes Up, Kid.'

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keith has a nightmare and then makes a decision.
> 
> TRIGGER WARNINGS:  
> panic and anxiety attacks  
> kidnapping/abduction  
> car/motorcycle wrecks  
> major character death  
> major character undeath (?)  
> graphic description of physical attacks/injury

_ August 5th, One year previous, 1:20pm _

 

“So, why don’t you just propose? You guys clearly love each other, Shiro.” Keith smiled.

 

“What he doesn’t though? What if I’m here hopelessly in love with him and he… I don’t know, doesn’t like even like me? What if he just sees me as a study partner?!”

 

“Okay, first- you’re scaring everyone on the block. Quiet down.” Keith gestured to the people on the street around them, “Second, you’ve been dating him for five years. I’m pretty sure he ‘likes’ you. Third, you’re going to crush your ice cream if you keep on like you are.”

 

Shiro looked down at the ice cream in his hand, the cone was already already cracked a little bit. He sighed and looked down in an embarrassment. “I just crushed an ice cream cone. Why would he even want to marry me?” He pouted.

 

Keith scoffed, “Now you’re just being ridiculous! Anyone on Earth would be  _ lucky  _ to marry you.”

 

“Thanks, Keith.” Shiro smiled and attempted to catch the drops of ice cream leaking out of his cone.

 

“No problem.” He laughed, “Let’s see if anyone has a napkin.”

They both started asking around the street, but no one around seemed to have one.

 

“I’ll go across the street and ask the restaurant workers. You stay here.”

 

“Alright. I’ll just… hold this liquid in my hand I guess.” Shiro grinned.

 

“Why don’t you just drink it then?!” Keith was already half across the road.

 

There was no response. Weird. Shiro always had to have the last word. He turned around, several cars honking at him for standing in the middle of the road. 

 

“Shiro?..”

 

“KEITH!” 

 

He was being dragged into a car. 

 

“SHIRO!!!” He screamed and ran to the car, but it had already started to speed off.

 

That didn’t stop him. He chased it. He tried with everything he had to catch the car. The 82℉ heat started to get to him and the car was moving faster and faster. He knew he couldn’t catch up. Someone up ahead was getting onto a motorcycle. It wasn’t Keith’s proudest moment, but he blamed it on instinct, like most things he did.

 

He stole the motorcycle, but there was no time to take the helmet too. He  _ needed  _ to catch that car. The motorcycle was going too fast, this definitely wasn’t the recommended size for Keith’s weight, but he had no other choice. He yelled at his phone’s AI, “Call Adam!” It only rang about three seconds before it was picked up.

 

“H-”

 

“Adam! Someone abducted Shiro!” He was already crying.

 

“Keith, I can barely hear you for the wind. What about Shiro?”

 

“SOMEONE TOOK HIM! SILVER AUDI WITH BLACKED OUT WINDOWS, THE LICENSE PLATE IS 2-A-R-K-”

 

His vision wasn’t on his surroundings, he didn’t see the red light. Shiro was his only concern right now. He heard sound of brakes screeching, a van desperately trying to stop, Adam was yelling in his ear, but it was too late. Keith was slung across the intersection, crashing harshly to the ground. His head throbbed and there was blood everywhere. He knew his left arm was definitely broken, leg probably was too, but he could barely feel it.  

 

Yet, he stood up. Slowly, he orientied himself and limped in the direction the car went. He couldn’t hear much. Yelling, some gasps, Adam was in there too somewhere, he was sure of it, but it he couldn’t hear anything well. 

 

“Sh-... Shiro…”

 

He collapsed in the middle of the road.

  
  
  
  
  
  


_ May 1st, One Year Previous, 12:25pm _

 

“At least we know that he’s okay. He pressed the distress signal, Keith.”

 

“That’s the fifth one and we still haven’t found him!”

 

Adam was much more calm than he had been. He always used his gentle voice to console Keith when he had another episode. Shiro had been so lucky to find a sweet guy like him.

 

They had started living together since Shiro’s disappearance, working together to track the signals that Shiro’s emergency watch sent out every now and then. Currently, they were stopped at a motel in New Mexico. They had maps scattered all over the dinning table, each one marked with messy pen scribbles. 

 

The last distress signal came from some city in the South part of California, they were heading out tomorrow, much to Keith’s dismay. Adam had told him that he needed to rest before heading out on a ride like that. He hated to admit it, but he knew Adam was right. Keith had been trying to figure out the general area in which the signal came from and tracked it down to a military facility. He didn’t understand that. All three of them had been trying to get in some branch of the military, why would they do this to Shiro, the best one in the ranks?

 

Adam’s phone started to ring, he ran to pick it up, “Hello?”

 

Keith stayed at the dining table looking at the maps. He couldn’t care less about who had kept calling Adam over the last couple months. At least, he wanted to believe that.

 

“Why? What’s going on?”

He walked over to the couch and turned the tv on. The reporter’s voice rang throughout the room.

 

“Breaking news! Two hours ago in Los Angeles there was a brutal attack by a cannibalistic woman. The victim of the cannibal herself, now identified as Louise Caldwell, suffered fatal injuries including part of her shoulder being ripped off of her body.”

 

Keith looked at the television and decided to join Adam on the couch.

 

“The cannibal was shot down before she could reach another civilian, but we have reports that her victim has somehow come back to life. Minutes ago, Louise stood back up. Paramedics and police alike were baffled by her reanimation and tried to calm the agitated woman down; however, she then began attacking everyone in the vicinity. At least five officers have sustained major injuries and one paramedic was killed. Anyone in the area has been told to stay indoors, while the injured officers have been sent to the hospital to heal.”

 

“That’s where the distress signal was…” 

 

“Keith, we can’t go.”

 

“Shiro is in that city and there are dead people coming back to life!  We need to go!”

 

“We can’t. I know you’re worried, I am too, but he’s a strong man, he can take care of himself. We can’t get killed trying to save him.”

 

“Yes we can.”

 

“Keith, don’t-”

 

“He was talking about proposing to you before he was kidnapped and this is how you’re acting when he could be in danger?!”

 

“What?..”

 

Keith didn’t say a word more to Adam the entire night. He debated going without him, but he knew that wasn’t possible. He decided to take a cold shower to calm himself down. _ ‘Shiro will be fine.’ _ He kept telling himself.

 

Shiro will be fine. But will they?

  
  
  


_ May 5th, One year previous, 6:00pm _

 

He should have been back by now. He just went out to the store to get groceries. Keith paced throughout the living room until he heard a key turning in the lock.

 

“Adam?”

 

Adam stumbled in, slamming the door behind him, “Keith, we have to go!”

 

“What’s wrong? Why?”

 

“Those dead people! They’re here!” By then, he had already started packing their things up, “We have to go East!”

 

“We- We can’t go East. Shiro is-”

 

Adam sighed, “You know what?.. You’re right. Let’s… Maybe it has gotten better where the last signal came from. Let’s go. Get packed. Grab every weapon you can, just in case.”

  
  
  


The street was too quiet for a weekend evening. No one was out on the streets, not even the woman that jogged down the road blasting ACDC out of her earphones daily. Even the birds were silent.

 

“Where is everybody?”

 

Adam wiped sweat from his brow and started the car, shaking his head, “I don’t know. They probably started heading East already.”

 

“Less traffic in our direction then.”

 

Adam said nothing.

 

“Hey, are you okay?” Keith asked.

 

“Yeah, I’m fine. It’s just hot out.”

 

“It’s only 53, Adam.”   
  


“Oh… Well, I don’t know. Must have ate something bad.”

 

“You gonna be able to drive?”   
  
“Yeah. I’ll be fine.”

 

Something was off, Keith could tell by the tone of Adam’s voice. Even so, he had never been the best at making people feel better, that was Shiro’s forte, not his. He decided to just listen to the indie playlist Adam had picked, eventually falling asleep to the slow strums of a ukulele. 

 

-xxx-

 

Keith was abruptly woken up by the momentum of being flung forward into his seatbelt and the sound of brakes squealing. He quickly scanned his surroundings. One thing was for certain- they were definitely not going West. Hundreds of cars lined the highway, none moving. Many of them were hitting their horns, thinking that would somehow do something.

 

“Adam, where are we?” Keith slowly turned his head to look at the other man.

 

“I’m sorry. You were going to be reckless again and try to be a martyr and I just couldn’t let that happen to you, Keith. You understand, right?..”

 

He was furious. At least, he wanted to be, until he saw Adam’s face. His skin was sickly pale, marble-like even, and his eyes were bloodshot. 

 

“What’s wrong?” He put his wrist against Adam’s forehead, but quickly recoiled, “Adam, you’re burning up!”

 

“I’m… I’m fine. Let’s get out and walk, we aren’t going anywhere with this stupid traffic.” He took a deep breath.

 

“I don’t think that’s a good idea. At this temperature you should be in bed with a cold rag, you can’t just walk.”

 

“We have to go before-”

 

Screaming. 

 

Over the car horns and strings of curse words, they could only hear screaming. Adam looked in the rearview mirror and all he could see was a swarm of people- no, not people- monsters coming towards them. Every single one of them had blood covering their mouths.

 

“Adam?..” He could tell that Keith was scared. If he wasn’t lying to himself, he was too.

 

“Let’s go!” Adam opened the car door, grabbing the pistol under his seat and keeping an eye on the swarm. Keith was at his side in seconds. People ran past them screaming, it was all too loud. Too violent. 

 

For the first time, Keith really saw what these monsters were capable of. A young man’s throat being ripped out, his screams gurgled by his own blood; an old woman, left behind by her family, with several undead biting and feasting wherever they could reach on her body; and a baby… Adam pulled him out of his trance, grabbing his wrist and running. However, Keith was still looking back.

 

They weaved through the crowded highway, Adam’s grip would no doubt leave a bruise on Keith’s arm. People tried to push past them, Adam had reacted in a way he had never reacted before- he pointed his gun at them. 

 

Adam had never been the violent type. He hated the training exercises where they had to fight each other, even to the point he’d have an anxiety attack just thinking about them. He’d always cool down after a while thanks to Shiro, but this was completely different.

 

He didn’t hesitate to point the gun at the man who pushed them. In his eyes, Keith could only see malice. It was more terrifying than the onslaught of undead behind them. 

 

Until Adam suddenly dropped the the ground. 

 

“Adam!!!” Keith kneeled beside him, trying to get him to stand. The man who pushed them took the chance to run past.

 

He was barely breathing.

 

“Adam..? Adam, get up!” Keith pleaded. The swarm was getting closer by the second, but Adam wasn’t responding.

 

“We have to go! They’re coming!” 

 

Adam lifted his head, his speech slurred, “Kei.. way… me…” 

 

Keith helped him up, supporting him on his shoulder, “We’re going to get away. Don’t worry.” He smiled in spite of the situation.

 

“No… from me…”

 

“What? I’m not leaving you here.” 

 

“Get… AWAY.” Adam pushed himself away from Keith, tumbling onto the hard concrete. 

 

“What are you doing?”

 

“Keith, I’m… One of them… bit me.”  

 

“...So? It’s just a bite. We can take you to a hospital after we get out of here.” 

 

“N-... No. Too late… Keith?”

 

“It’s not too late!”

 

“Keith… Don’t look for Shiro… please.”

 

Keith said nothing. What kind of request was that? They were going to look for him together after they got out of this mess. He sighed and was about to say something, but was interrupted. Adam groaned, his breathing was labored.

 

“Are you okay? I can carry you if you need-”

 

Adam lunged forward at him, clawing at Keith’s throat. 

 

“ADAM!” 

 

Keith screamed and pushed him away, quickly scooting himself backwards until his back again a car. Adam’s eyes had changed. They were still bloodshot, but the irises now a dull violet color. He didn’t have enough time to dwell on it before Adam attacked him again, trying to tear him apart bite by bite. Keith’s vision was blurry, he couldn’t see through his tears. He thought he could trust Adam- but here he was trying to rip Keith’s arm off of his body.

 

No. This thing wasn’t Adam- Adam wouldn’t do this. He would lie a lot, protect Keith from the truth, but he’d never try to hurt anyone, especially if it was him or Shiro. Keith tried to get it through his head. “This is not Adam.” He screamed to himself as he fought back. However, he soon realized that this thing- this disease that had taken his best friend, was unlike anything they had seen. It made people relentless. Adam’s body kept attacking and attacking with all it had.

 

“Kill it!!!” He heard someone yell. Looking over for a split second, Keith saw someone on top of a eighteen wheeler, away from the reach of the undead, “The gun! Get the gun!!!”

 

He looked back at the gun, resting a few feet away. Adam’s mouth was still trying to snap at his face, growling morbidly, his fingernails ripping at this skin of Keith’s neck once again.

 

“Please, Adam, don’t make me do this…” Keith sobbed, but he knew he had no other choice. He pushed Adam’s body off of him, scrambling to grab the gun, the safety was already off. Adam’s body ran towards him again.

 

A gunshot woke Keith up.

  
  


_ May 4rd, 20XX, 6:00 am _

 

He woke up in a cold sweat, gripping the knife he always kept by his side. He shouldn’t have lied to Pidge and he knew it. The guilt was making him have nightmares like it always did. No, it wasn’t a nightmare. It was just… a memory. He traced the scars on his neck carefully.  _ ‘At least Adam didn’t have to suffer for long.’ _ Keith thought to himself, wiping tears from his eyes.

 

It was only six, he doubted Pidge would be awake yet, even though the morning was the best time to travel. He’d fuss at her about that later. He hated having to do that, but it was the only way she’d get the importance of his lessons. She wouldn’t get it if he politely whispered, ‘These things will rip you apart piece by piece if you don’t learn how to survive them properly.’ The urgency of it would undoubtedly falter through soft and gentle words and, at most, it would sound creepy.

  
Keith clipped his personal radio on his belt as he climbed the ladder of the observatory. Although he had already missed sunrise, he couldn’t deny that the view was still beautiful. The sky was already turning a vivid light blue, fluffy clouds dotted throughout, and birds chirped everywhere around him. The wind gently blew through his hair, which was, in his opinion, one of the best feelings left in the world.

 

He closed his eyes as he thought about things. About how this strange girl, and now her group, had contacted him; about how this observatory was probably the best set up he had come across, but was bound to be compromised soon; about how Shiro’s distress signal-

 

Keith gasped and his eyes snapped open. Shiro’s distress signal. He had sent out another signal yesterday and Keith had completely forgot about it! He quickly pulled out the tracker and looked at the map. The signal had come from Utah. He had to go North… 

  
  
  
  
  


_ May 4rd, 20XX, 1:00pm _

 

_ ‘I think Keith hates me. I don’t know. He just seems quieter after yesterday’s  _ _ feasco _ _ fiasco. I hope he starts talking again soon. I’m so tired. I don’t even know why. Maybe I’m sad? I haven’t been moving as fast, I feel like I can’t. _

_ We found a little store yesterday and stocked up on food and water. At least what we could. We should be okay for the trip North to the Garrison though.  _

_ Every single time I think about our trip I keep thinking back to Keith. I know he had the right to refuse grouping up, but it makes no sense. He wants to find someone, I want to find someone, Hunk and Lance want to find some people, it just makes sense that we would team up! I’m not going to stop trying to convince him. For his sake, if not mine. _

_ We’re almost out of the city, we stopped at a gas station to wait out a group of zombies. Until they leave, we have to stay silent.’ _

 

Pidge peeked over the counter and out the window, she counted seven zombies that were still out near the gas pumps. She would have sighed if not for the need to stay completely silent. Hunk and Lance were playing a different game to keep them from going insane this time. As Pidge watched, she learned that Lance would draw a line, then Hunk, then Lance, then Hunk, and the pattern continued, they only stopped when the doodle was finished, but then they started a completely new one afterwards. It seemed boring to Pidge, but she knew better than to question them.

 

“Pidge, are you there?” Her radio’s volume was clearly NOT set on low. 

 

She squeaked and rushed to turn it down, but it was too late. The zombies had turned towards the noise, they were heading their way. 

 

“Keith, there are a group of zombies trying to get in the gas station, they’re-”

 

“Which gas station? How many of them are there? Can any of them run?”

 

“U-Umm… It’s a Shell, there are seven I think, and no.”

 

“Find the back door and run. Keep going North like you planned.”

 

“What if they catch us?!”   
  


“Pidge, do you trust me?”

 

“I shouldn’t…” She sighed, “But I do. We’re headed out the back now.”

 

Hunk kicked open the back door and ushered them out, keeping an eye on the zombies out front. It was a bad idea, but the best they had at that point. Along with the seven zombies, several more were scattered on the road ahead of them. 

 

“Keep running, no matter what, okay?!” Keith wanted to be loud enough to tell everyone, not just Pidge, but since the volume was on low, she transferred the message.

 

“Keep running, don’t stop!”

 

“Got it!” Hunk and Lance yelled back.

 

Pidge glanced behind them to see several zombies chasing after them. Turns out, she was wrong, the monsters did run… They heard a rumble somewhere in front of them, something they all had not heard in a long time, but still vividly remembered- a motorcycle engine. In a blur, it zoomed past them, a sharp whistling sound followed.

 

She stopped and turned back, investigating the sound. The undead had had the same idea and all started towards the loud noises, now running towards the motorcycle. It slid to a stop, a young man jumping off and unsheathing a long sword. He decapitated zombies left and right until a couple eventually got close enough to bite. At this point, Hunk and Lance had stopped and started to stare at the man as well.

 

He didn’t give up. 

 

A zombie lunged at him, latching on to his forearm, he didn’t flinch, instead he took a knife out of his pocket and stabbed it through the zombies head. He did the same for the remaining two of them. After all of them were dead (again), the man went through, driving his knife through the zombie’s heads a second time.

 

Pidge found herself unconsciously moving towards him.

 

“Pidge! Don’t!” Hunk yelled.

 

The young man looked towards her and frowned, tucking the sports whistle he had around his neck into his shirt.

 

“Keith?”

 

“I told you to keep running.”

 

Pidge grinned and wrapped her arms around him, “I knew you’d join us!!!”

 

“I don’t usually… um…” He didn’t quite know what to do with his arms, “I thought I told you to cut your hair too, but you didn’t.”

 

“Is this him? Hunk asked as he approached cautiously.  Lance was behind him, but not saying anything, just staring at Keith.

 

“If by ‘him’ you mean ‘guy on the radio,’ then yes. I am ‘him.’ You’re Hunk, right?”

 

“How’d you know?”

 

“You don’t seem like an idiot. I’ve already learned that the one named ‘Lance’ is.”

 

Lance narrowed his eyes and scoffed, “I regret wanting you to join us now.”

 

“I’m sure I’ll regret it too, but for now we keep moving.”

 

“What? No. You don’t just get to waltz in here and claim yourself as leader! I’m the leader!” Lance yelled.

 

Keith just looked confused, “I’m not-? I drove in h-? Listen, I’m not trying to be the leader here, I just want to go North..?”

 

Lance began to look more upset by the second, but said nothing. He kept his glare sharp.

 

“Anyway, I have a siphon with me, it’s best if we take a car.”

 

“But I thought we weren’t supposed to take cars?” Pidge questioned.

 

“So you listened to that part, huh?”

Pidge smiled and shrugged, still holding on tight to his waist.

 

“Well, it’s usually best not to take a vehicle, but with as far as we have to go and how hot it is we need to. I’ll go get some gasoline and you guys pick out a car.” 

 

As Keith pried the younger girl off of him and walked away, Lance was still glaring at him. Hunk was still kindly wary of him, but he knew that the more people they had the better their chances of survival. 

 

He and Pidge went along picking out a car they thought would be best. Trucks were too loud, but most of the cars around, Hunk told her, we’re leeches- sucked up too much gasoline to be worth it. 

 

Eventually, they found a Honda that was in decent condition, not too much blood on it either, which was a big plus to Pidge. Hunk somehow knew how to hotwire it, but she wasn’t too surprised. He seemed like a car guy. 

 

They packed up all their bags, and searched a few more vehicles for more supplies until Hunk noticed than Lance was still sulking by the road guardrail. Hunk decided he should see what the problem was, but Pidge tagged along anyway.

 

“Hey, Buddy, you alright?”

 

“Not fair.” Lance mumbled under his breath.

 

“Oh, come on. You wanted ‘radio guy’ to join us too right?” Pidge asked.

 

“Yeah, but I didn’t expect some scrawny guy with girly hair and a death wish. Did you see what he did?” 

 

“He saved us, Lance.”

 

“A couple of them bit his arm!”

 

“No they didn’t,” Keith interrupted, he lifted the arm that wasn’t carrying any jerrycans, “Duct tape. Several layers- they can’t bite through it. I would tell you to try it, but you’d just get yourself killed.”

 

“Would not!”

 

“Yes, you would.”

 

“I wouldn’t!”

 

“You-”

 

Hunk and Pidge shared a look. An annoyed, skeptical, look. 

 

“Okay, when you two are done fighting like six year olds, we’ll be in the car.” Pidge sighed and walked away, dragging Hunk with her.

 

It took about eight minutes until the two kids made it to the car.

  
  
  
  


_ May 4th, 20XX, 3:00pm _

 

“I spy something tan.”

 

“If it’s sand again, Lance, I swear to God-” Pidge huffed.

 

“Well! There’s nothing else out there!”

 

“The blue sky, a couple white clouds, yellow and white stripes on the road, the grey road itself-”  Keith kept his eyes on the road while he started to list everything off.

 

“Okay, Smartass, you do one then.”

 

“I don’t play games.”

 

“We have about two hours until we get there, you gotta play something to not get bored out of your mind.” Pidge smiled.

 

“I’m driving. I’m not bored.” He was quiet for a bit, “Wake Hunk up, please.”

 

“He’s so peaceful though…” Pidge frowned.

 

“Maybe so, but I don’t trust Lance with scissors.”

 

“What am I doing with scissors?” 

 

“Nothing, Hunk is-”

 

Lance wasn’t having it. He snatched the scissors from Keith’s hand, “I’m doing it. What am I doing?”

 

Keith sighed, “Cut Pidge’s hair.”

 

“What?! No!” Pidge yelled, “I love my hair!”

 

“If you had to choose between being alive or having long hair, what would you pick?”

 

“...Being alive.”

 

“Let him cut your hair then. It can be shoulder length at most.”

 

“Wait, why?” Lance questioned. 

 

“The walkers. If their arms are not decayed a fair amount, they will grab you by the hair and rip your neck into shreds. I’ve seen it before.”

 

“...Did you know the person?”

 

“No. Didn’t care enough to.”

 

Again, this guy was being way too negative for Lance to be comfortable with. He didn’t want to see his friend with her neck ripped out though, so he went along with it. Each clip he made, Pidge made a pitiful sound. She whimpered and groaned, Lance thought she was about to cry too, but he was in the back seat so he couldn’t tell.

 

Lance sneered at Keith, “We should cut your hair next. You look like a girl.”

 

Keith said nothing, but Pidge could tell that, for some reason, the comment made him really upset. She decided it was probably a question to ask in private.

 

Still, Lance kept on, “Why do you keep your hair that long? I know it isn’t for looks.”

 

“We are not talking about my hair.”

 

“Yeah we are.”

 

“Are you not physically able to shut up for one minute?”

 

“I am, but I’m also getting on your nerves, so I’m not going to.”

 

Keith looked at Pidge, pouting, was the best she could describe it as. 

 

“Alright, Lance, that’s enough. Why don’t you go to sleep?”

 

“I’ll try. I don’t know if I can with this guy driving.” Lance grumbled.

 

Pidge smiled, “Thank you.” 

Keith relaxed, if only for one second. With that guy shut up, he could focus. Once he started thinking about the trip, he couldn’t stop worrying. What if Pidge’s family isn’t here? What if the entire place is overrun with walkers and they can’t get in. More importantly, what if they find Pidge’s family  _ as _ walkers. He knew he had to protect this little group he was in now, but if they couldn’t protect themselves, what would the point be?

 

“Keith?”

 

It would be like babysitting three toddlers on the edge of cliff, if he takes his eyes off of one of them, even for one second, another could die. He couldn’t stop thinking about it. 

 

“Keith?”

 

A million things could go wrong. After they found Pidge’s family, what would they do? Nothing- because they wouldn’t need or want him anymore. They would have absolutely no reason to keep him around. Maybe they’d even kill him. He couldn’t die before he knows Shiro is safe. He just couldn’t.

 

“Keith.” Pidge hit his arm with her book, snapping him out of his thoughts, “Are you okay?”

 

“Fine.”

 

“Are you sure?”

 

“Don’t worry about it.”

 

“Okay…” She sighed, but then smiled, “We can talk about ourselves now.”

 

“We could before-”

 

“Yeah, yeah, yeah, but now we don’t have to use the radio. Where are you from?”

 

She didn’t need to know the full truth, right? She’d be fine with where he lived before the country went to shit.

 

“Texas.”

 

“Cool! I’m from Italy, but my family moved here for my dad’s work.”

 

“Do you regret that now?”

 

“...Yeah…”

 

Silence. Maybe Pidge was over trying to get to know him. This was good.

 

“Will you tell me where you worked now?”

 

He sighed, “I was training for the air force, stole a motorcycle and got into a wreck, was in the hospital for a while and in prison for a couple months. Anything else?”

 

“So can you fly a plane? Why’d you steal a motorcycle?”

 

This was never going to end, was it?

 

“Yes. I needed to chase after… You know what? Don’t worry about it.”

 

“I think I get it now…”

 

He looked at her and raised an eyebrow.

 

“This guy you’re looking for- you trained with him. He was kidnapped, then you had to steal the bike to chase the car?”

 

Pidge was a lot of things, but she was certainly not stupid.

 

“Yeah… I didn’t catch them…”

 

“So, who is this guy? You must really care about him to still be searching after this long.”

 

“Just my friend.”

 

“And you’re looking for him all by yourself?”

 

His hands started shaking and his eyes watered.  _ ‘Not again, please, not again, not in front of her.’ _

 

“Keith? Was there someone else with you? Is that why you didn’t want to team up?”

 

“...Shiro’s fiancé.”

 

“I’m sure she-“

 

“He. I had to shoot him. His name was Adam.” 

 

“He turned..?”

 

“Before this whole thing, we were heading West to find Shiro. The walkers made it to New Mexico where we were staying. Apparently, he was bitten before he made it home. He tried driving me East to get away from those things, for my own good, but he turned on the Highway. The scars on my neck are from his body.”

 

“He… He did that to you?”

 

“No!.. I mean… It wasn’t  _ him.  _ That wasn’t Shiro’s Adam… It was something completely different.” 

 

“Keith, I’m so sorry…” 

 

“It’s not your fault. I… Let’s stop talking about it, huh?” He smiled weakly.

 

“Yeah. That sounds good.”

 

In the backseat, Lance finally closed his eyes and fell asleep.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! I didn't mean to make this chapter this long and I was on vacation, so sorry if there are any grammar errors! <3
> 
> tumblr: ash-alert (more active)  
> instagram: ash_alert


	4. 4- The Garrison

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The group makes it to The Garrison and Lance begins to realize something.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shout out to Hoii_its_Joii because I accidentally lied to them about this chapter being up in a few days. I'm so sorry. :(  
> This is a shorter chapter, but that's because it's pretty much all set-up.

_ May 4th, 20XX, 3:00pm _

  
  


The car suddenly went off road. The vehicle shook violently, not only waking up Hunk in the process, but making Lance hit his head against his door as well. Lance groaned and rubbed his head, grumbling curse words under his breath.

 

“Keith! What are you doing?!” Pidge yelled.

 

“Something is bothering me.”

 

Lance rubbed his head and groaned, “Doesn’t sound like a good reason to me.”

 

They noticed they stopped at a house. Why Keith had stopped here, they had no idea. However, at the very least, he himself was confident in his decision. The trio looked at each other, all confused. Keith pounded on the window.

 

“Are you guys coming or not? We don’t have all day.”

 

Hunk laughed nervously, “I’ll stay here in the car where it’s safe. thanks though.”

 

“Okay,” Lance smiled and sighed, “You stay here, alone, with the chance of zombies surrounding the car and clawing at the windows while you have no choice but to wait them out.”

 

“...On second thought-” Hunk stumbled out of the car.

 

By the time Lance and Hunk were ready, Keith was already halfway to the house. Again, the trio had to scuttle along to keep up with him.

 

“Why do you walk so fast?” Pidge asked, already out of breath from the heat.

 

“Because we’re on a time scedule. We need to get weapons for all of you before we get to The Garrison.”

 

“I have a gun and a chair leg though.”

 

“And what do those two have?”

 

Hunk thought for a second, “Lance has a pistol, but we’re almost out of ammo.”

 

Keith waited for something else. When Hunk he didn’t say anything more, he sighed, “How are you two not dead yet.”

 

“Well, I’m-”

 

“Rhetorical Question, Lance.”

 

Keith made them stay back from the front door while he checked for walkers. He blew his sports whistle once or twice and not even moments later, one was stumbling out, ready to sink its teeth into his flesh. Unfortunately for it, he killed it in seconds. 

 

Pidge started to walk towards him, but he held his hand up, signaling for her to stop. He then disappeared into the house. It was about 10 minutes until he returned. She could tell something had happened in there, but she had a horrible feeling she didn’t want to know. 

 

They walked up to him, Hunk speaking carefully, “Hey, are you okay? What happened?

 

Keith was quiet for a minute, “They… They had a baby. It didn’t make it.”

 

Everyone was quiet.

 

With these things trying to rip them apart, it wasn’t hard to forget that the zombies were once human. That empty house used to be a home to someone. Maybe a single mother with a child the father refused to take care of, maybe a happy couple that was ecstatic for their newborn child to be a part of their life- maybe the other parent was at work when the home was attacked and he never returned. No matter what the scenario was, they used to be a family and that child once had their whole life ahead of them. Once.

 

Keith broke the silence, unable to stand it anymore, “Check the house for supplies. Search everywhere you feasibly can. Weapons, food, first aid, anything.” 

 

And so the search began.

 

-xxx-

 

“What’d we find?” 

 

“Crackers and some bandaids.”

 

“I found a baseball bat and duct tape.”

 

“I found another gun and some ammo, a crowbar, painkillers, and some rubbing alcohol.”

 

The other three stared at Lance. 

 

“Where’d you find the gun?”

 

“It was in a safe in the bedroom closet.”

 

“And you could open it?”

 

“Yeah, it wasn’t that hard.”

 

Lance was surprised to see Keith smiling at him, “Wow. Good job, Lance.”

 

In that moment, despite the burning sun beating down on him, he completely froze. He didn’t realize how long he ended up staring, but when he came back to reality, Keith and the others were gone. Quickly, he looked around, finding them searching the truck and shed in the driveway. 

 

He sighed in relief. Lance had no idea why he just zoned out like that, but it wouldn’t happen again, he promised himself. What if that happened when there were zombies around? He’d be dead in seconds! (And  _ undead  _ in hours.) Whatever that was, he was going to get the Hell over it.

 

“Okay, we got another flashlight, but that’s it. Should we go now?”

 

“All of you know how to use weapons, right?”

 

Hunk smiled nervously, “I played baseball a lot, I know how to use a bat.”

 

“You get the bat then. Lance will keep the crowbar. Pidge, are you still okay using the chair?”

 

“I mean, I’d prefer having something better, but I can’t really complain much. I’m good.”

 

“We’ll find something at The Garrison…” Keith told her sadly.

 

Pidge smiled and nodded. The group headed back to the car and continued their journey.

  
  
  


_ May 4th, 20XX, 4:50pm _

  
  


The Garrison. A college university made of a large group of modern buildings that for some ungodly reason they built in the middle of the desert. Keith knew this was going to be difficult, he had heard of The Garrison quite a bit and by the information he gathered, he knew they had on-campus dorms. Meaning there were going to be walkers, possibly runners, no matter what. Luckily, the dorms were built on the left side of campus, so if they stayed far enough away, they’d probably slip past most of them.

 

“Okay, who knows this place best?”

 

“Hunk.”

 

“What?” 

 

“I mean, don’t you?” Lance asked.

 

“I guess, but I don’t want all the pressure put on me…”

 

Keith sighed, “Pidge? Think you can do it?”

 

“Positive. My dad’s office was on the fifth floor, West side. It should be a straight shot so we can just-”

 

Pidge tried to run towards the building, but Keith grabbed her arm and pulled her back. She frowned and furrowed her eyebrows.

 

“You can’t do that.” 

 

“I need to find my family.”

 

“I know you do, I get it, but you can’t run off by yourself.”

 

“He’s right.” Hunk agreed, “We need to stick together.”

 

Hunk didn’t even finish his sentence before Keith took off in front of the group. He snuck around a few of the abandoned cars, taking out a few walkers on the way to the building. Meanwhile, the trio were staring at him in disbelief. 

 

“Did he just-”

 

“He just said I couldn’t go by mys-!”

 

Lance covered Pidge’s mouth with his hands, looking around for any zombies that might have heard her, “Pidge, you can’t yell like that.” He whispered.

 

Pidge frowned and glared at Keith, he pointed at his radio and brought his hand down. At first, she didn’t understand, but she realized he wanted her to turn her radio’s volume down- that had gotten her into trouble before, so she was glad he thought about it. After doing so, she brought her ear to the speaker..

 

“I’m going inside and setting up a safe room, you guys wait there.”

 

“Keith, I swear to God if you go in there without us-”

 

“What are you going to do? Punch me in the knees?” She could see Keith grinning at her from across the parking lot.

 

“Yeah, say goodbye to them, Asshole.”

 

Lance grabbed the walkie talkie and grumbled, “Think about what you’re doing, Keith. Don’t go by yourself.”

 

Keith rolled his eyes and disappeared behind another vehicle.

  
  
  


_ May 4th, 20XX, 5:12pm _

 

“It’s been almost half an hour, do you think someone should go in and try to find him?”

 

“No. He got himself into it, he can get himself out, I’m sure. He’s strong.” Hunk smiled.

 

Pidge smiled back and doodled a few cars and flowers in her journal to pass time. On the other hand, Lance didn’t have anything to do. He bounced his leg up and down, repeatedly tapping his fingers against his thumb nervously.

 

“Hey, have you ever noticed how tight his jeans are, what’s up with that?”

 

Hunk furrowed his eyebrows, “Not really. Why, have you been looking?”

 

“Wha-” Lance sputtered, “What? No, no, no, no. I just- Um… I thought since h- it’s so hot, you know,  _ outside _ , that he must be overheating. It’s gotta be burning him up.”

 

“He told me it’s best to wear tight clothes because that way it’s harder for the zombies to grab you and take you down.”

 

“Okay, but why that tight? They’re probably really hard to get off.”

 

“Lance, Buddy, check your wording and stop thinking about his pants.”

 

Minutes later, Keith walked into sight and motioned for them to come over. Hunk looked to see if they were clear and then swiftly ran over to him, Pidge and Lance followed. 

 

“I’ve cleared out a section of the building, but I don’t know how long it’ll stay that way. I need all of you to tell me you understand that these things might have once been your classmates or friends, but they aren’t now. The only interaction they want with you is ripping you apart and stuffing you in their stomach.”

 

Hunk frowned, “I understand.”

 

“Yeah…”

 

Lance was quiet.

 

“Lance? Do you understand?”

 

“I don’t need  _ you  _ telling me that. Just because they’re in this state doesn’t mean they aren’t people.” Lance growled.

 

“Uh, yeah, that’s  _ exactly  _ what it means. They do not care about you anymore.”

 

“Well, I’m not any better off here with you.”

 

Keith let out a sharp exhale, knowing that it was not the time to argue about this. The only thing that mattered was getting inside safely. After that, they could argue, but not now. He grabbed Pidge’s hand and lead her inside, Hunk and Lance obviously expected to follow.

  
  


The halls were quiet other than the sound of hurried, yet hushed, footsteps. Posters that were hung on the walls to motivate students were written on in sharpie, some were torn. Keith lead them to the counselor’s room, further down in the wing.

 

“You cleared al-”

 

“ _ Shhh! _ ” He interrupted Hunk, shutting the door, locking it, and pulling a chain in front of it. He then checked if there were any other entrances to the room, but there were none to be found. What surprised him was the reaction of the others.

 

In Pidge’s eyes, tears were beginning to form, she looked around the room, taking in her surroundings. Hunk was in almost the same state, but he was already fully crying. In his hand was a picture frame, Lance was looking at it over his shoulder, a heavy-hearted look on his face as well. Keith still didn’t understand.

 

“What’s wrong with you guys?”

 

Pidge looked at him, “This is the counselor's room. Mr. Darby.”

 

“...Okay?” 

 

She chuckled sadly, “He’s the most cheerful person you could ever meet. Funniest too.”

 

“I was having an anxiety attack over a test once and he sat with me for two hours talking to me about why I was so scared of failing and making sure I knew that my fears were okay to have, but that I was ‘too smart to fail.’” Hunk smiled, “Then he forced the professor to let me take the test I missed.”

 

“Yeah. Once he brought one of his cats to school and it just ran around with him all day letting people pet her and making them smile. She crawled up in a vending machine though and refused to come out until he promised he’d pay more attention to her.” 

 

“What was that cat’s name?”

 

“I think it was Daisy?”

 

“Oh, yeah! Because on her birthday everyone got her flowers!”

 

The trio all laughed. Lance grinned, “Literally almost everyone. I remember going out and getting some myself.”

 

“His house must have smelled good at the least.” Pidge smiled.

 

Keith didn’t know what to do. They seemed like they were having fun reminiscing, so he just searched through a couple desk drawers while they spoke. A couple of stale cracker packs and some gum, but no maps of the building that they could use. He didn’t understand why they were so fond of this teacher or whatever, but at least they were keeping their morale up.

 

He remembered the posters in the hallway, the graffiti covering the walls, and the blood on the floor. Whatever happened at this school, he knew there were once survivors, but were they still alive? If they were, good, that might be the key to finding Pidge’s family and he could leave her with them in relative safety. If not, that meant their corpses were probably more fresh- that meant they were probably runners. 

 

“You guys didn’t have a football team or anything, did you?”

 

“No. Why?”

 

“Just… Needed to know.”  Keith worried, “I think you we should rest a while before going to search.”

 

“But what about my dad and Matt?..”

 

“We’ll look for them soon, I…” He wasn’t going to promise anything, “I’m sure they’re okay.”

 

“...I guess I am kind of tired. We should sleep in shifts though, just in case anything happens. Right, Keith?”

 

“Quick learner.” He almost smiled.

 

“Thanks, I don’t even try.” She laughed, “I think Hunk should take first shift since he slept the whole drive here.”

 

“Wh-what? Alone? I can’t stay up alone!”

 

“Shh! I’ll stay up with you, but we still need to keep our voices down.” Lance warned.

 

Keith eventually, albeit apprehensively, agreed to the arrangement and sat in the corner, knees tucked against his chest and arms folded on his knees. Pidge was going to question him about just how he was going to sleep in that position, but she leaned on Hunk’s shoulder and, within seconds, she was knocked out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't worry. Mr. Darby made it out safely and he and his cats are living out on a lake somewhere enjoying life and eating well.  
> (Yes, 'Daisy' was a reference, you know who you are. <3)
> 
> Tumblr: ash-alert


	5. 5- Human

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The group runs into some trouble.
> 
> TRIGGER WARNINGS:   
> \- Torture  
> \- Cigarette torture to be specific  
> \- Second Degree Burns  
> \- The usual bashing of zombie heads

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AGAIN- Trigger warnings for this chapter. Check chapter summary for more details.

_ May 5th, 20XX, 7:04am _

 

Keith shook Lance and Hunk, “Get up, now.” A slight panic was in his voice.

 

Lance yawned and stretched out his arms and legs, “Just a few more minutes, thanks.”

 

On the other hand, Hunk’s eyes immediately snapped open, “What is it? Are they here?”

 

“Yes. Get up. I need you two awake when I open this door. Can you please wake him up?”

 

Hunk sighed and smacked Lance on the head, “Up, up. Zombies.”

 

Again, Lance didn’t get up, “We’re fine. We got Mister Military Man, he can take care of it.”

 

“What?.. How did you-...”

 

“Keith, they know we’re here, what do we do?!” Pidge yelled.

 

“Hunk, Pidge, you get the door. Crack it open.”

 

“Why are we opening the door again?”

 

“It’s our only way out and their only way in.” Keith grabbed a knife from his belt and got breathed in, “Whenever you’re ready.”

 

Lance sat up, “Wait, you’re actually doing this?! Are you crazy?!”

 

“It’s our only option.” 

 

“We can go through the vent!”

 

“We can’t all fit and we don’t know the duct system well enough.”

 

The door slowly creaked open, hands immediately rushing in and trying to grab at them. Pidge whimpered as she and Hunk held the door in place. Lance ran to the window and pulled the curtain aside. There were five that he could see, so that was the bright side. The dark side was that those things were trying to kill them.

 

“Aww, Man…” Lance furrowed his eyebrows in disappointment, “That’s Jenny… I had a crush on her for, like, forever.”

 

“Well, that’s not Jenny now.” Keith shoved his knife into another corpse’s head, repeating the action several more times before they were all lying in a pile in front of the door. After he was sure they were all dead, he leaped over them, checking the hallway for any more. The coast was clear, Hunk stepped over them, almost throwing up at the awful smell. 

 

“Okay, Pidge, you next.” Keith held out his hand.

 

“I don’t think I can do it…”

 

“KEITH, DUCK!!!” Hunk screamed.

 

Without hesitation, he did. He could hear a wet sound and dull cracking. He turned around. Hunk lifted his blood covered bat, from the skull of the runner’s head, slowly looking towards Keith and breathing heavily. 

 

Keith’s face flushed, “Uh… Thanks…” 

 

“No problem…” 

 

When Hunk looked back to Pidge, she was clinging to Lance’s arm. 

 

“No way I’m coming out there!” Lance yelled.

 

“We have to find Pidge’s family, come on.”

 

The woman unhooked herself and took Hunk’s hand, stepping over the pile of bodies. The only thing on her mind was finding her dad and brother. Lance took some convincing, but with Hunk talking to him, it didn’t take that long. Keith was investigating the runner that Hunk had killed.

 

He whispered to himself, “Skin still clear, signs of decomposition, but none actually taking place. Seemingly no vision impairment. Clothes not torn. The bite on the bicep.” He lifted the corpse’s hand, “Fingernails aren’t yellowed and there isn’t any skin under them. It hasn’t had the chance to get to anyone yet.”

 

“Oh my God, that’s disgusting, put it down!” Lance squealed.

 

Keith dropped the arm and stood up, “That thing is fresh, it turned within the last few days. There were still survivors here.”

 

“So, my family?..”

 

“I don’t know. Let’s go.” 

 

The search began.

  
  


_ May 5th, 20XX, 12:25am _

 

It had been hours and they still hadn’t found any signs of life. Pidge’s spirits were dropping fast, especially after they found her dad’s office empty. The only sign that he might have escaped were the papers scattered across the floor and the rug in front of the door, which the corner of was flipped, probably in a attempt to leave. 

 

They had searched up and down, east to west, and north to south, but the whole building was empty other than the occasional walking corpses. Keith took these dangerous opportunities to let the other three try to kill them.    
  


Pidge couldn’t do it. With her mood the way it was, she was so depressed that she could barely move her arms. Keith had to step in.

 

Hunk could only do it after he got over the initial fear of  _ ‘Oh my Goodness. This monster is actually in front of me and it’s going to kill me if I don’t kill it.’  _ It wasn’t the cleanest kill, he wasn’t dead, so that was good.

 

Lance did better than the other two. He didn’t hesitate on the kill. No thinking twice, no fighting with Keith, just him and his crowbar dug into the skull of what was once another human being. Keith was actually proud for a few seconds.

  
  


They were sneaking through another hallway when two loud beeps came from Keith’s belt. Two walkers were alerted to their location because of it. He gasped and almost reached for the tracker before he remembered that the zombies were first priority. Lance and Hunk took one down and Keith got the other. Immediately after, he pulled the tracker from his belt and a pen from his pack. He ignored the dirty looks from the rest of the group.

 

“What the Hell was that?” Lance’s voice was bitter.

 

“Shut up.” Keith quickly responded, holding the pen to his arm, writing a few numbers and marking it up even more. Again, he started talking, whispering to himself, “ _ He hasn’t moved, but why did he press it again? He’s never been this active before, is he in trouble?.. _ ”

 

“ _ Keith. _ ” Pidge said, “We have to keep moving.”

 

“ _ It’s only been a few days, usually it’s a matter of months before he signa- _ ”

 

Hunk sighed, “That’s enough for now. Let’s get to a safe place before you go off the handle with this, Bud.”

 

Keith gripped the map to his chest tightly, only coming back to reality when Hunk was pulling him through the hallways. He hated that this happened. He knew as well as anybody that you should never zone out during a fight or otherwise dangerous situation, In any case, he’d punish himself for that later. Hunk pulled them into the closest room, shutting the door behind everyone and sighing. It didn’t take long before Lance was yelling.

 

“What the Hell?! You could have gotten us killed!”

 

“I need to leave.”

 

Pidge looked up from her sulking, “What?..”

 

“I need to leave. I received another signal, I need to-”

 

“You promised you’d help me find my family!”

 

“I didn’t promise anything. I helped you get here and search, you three can continue on your own, but I have to go find-”

 

“Keith,” Pidge put her hand on his after thinking for a minute, “Shiro will be okay. What are his coordinates?”

 

“... 38.2186° North, 112.8283° West .  It’s not on the map, I’ve looked.”

 

“Maybe not, but this place had geography class, if we can reboot that system, we can access the virtual map and track him.”

 

“You should be focusing on your family, not helping me. What do you gain from that?”

 

Pidge realized that he was smarter than he seemed, she sighed, “The map in in near the east wing, where the dorms are and if we can-”

 

“No. I’m going North and I’ll find a map along the way”

 

“Keith, calm down.” Hunk put his hands on the other man’s shoulders, “We just… We need you…”

 

“No you don’t.”

 

Lance agreed, “Just let him go, Hunk. We can’t keep him here.” 

 

_ Knock. Knock. Knock. _

 

“We know you’re in there. Open up.”

 

Everyone stopped. Pidge, without even thinking, hid behind Keith, latching to the nearest person once again.

 

“Other people?..” Lance smiled and went to open the door, but Keith grabbed his hand. 

 

He whispered, “Hide. Closet, now.”

 

“What? But-”

 

With just a look to Hunk, Lance was being pulled into the closet along with Pidge. He slowly, and quietly as possible, closed the door, settling into position despite the tight fit. If Pidge had to guess, the second that closet door opened, they’d all come tumbling out.

  
  
  


Keith opened the door, expecting to have to fight anyone that might try to hurt the rest of the group. What he did not expect was to have to crane his neck up to look at the man in front of him. He was 6’2” at the very least. The man forced his way in, easily pushing past Keith in his surprised state. However, Keith could now get a better look at the man, so it was okay with him.

 

No denying this man was tall, but also one of the more  _ attractive  _ people he had some across. His skin was tanned, probably from his time out and the desert sun, and he was definitely strong, Keith couldn’t deny that either. It also wasn’t his fault he was staring, because with the muscles, the beautiful, but tired, dark brown eyes, and blonde, but almost white, shoulder length hair, who wouldn’t want to stare at this guy for hours? 

 

Or was that just Keith? He had to stop this.

 

The man smiled and held his hand out, Keith subconsciously accepted the greeting, “I’m Rolo, nice to meet you.” He paused, then took his hand back, “This is my friend Nyma and my dog Beezer.”

 

_ What? _

 

Apparently, Keith had been so distracted by the man that he didn’t even see a dog and another human walk into the room. The small, white dog rubbed against his leg.

 

“What are you doing here?”

 

“Oh, we just thought that since we seen…” Nyma looked around, “Another human… walking around, that we could team up. You know? It’s been ages since I’ve had company that didn’t get on my nerves all the time.” She grinned.

 

“I prefer to be alone, actually. Thanks.”

 

“Oh, come on…” She pouted her lip as she stepped closer to him, “Please?..” 

 

He could tell this was a setup, but he didn’t know what to do in this kind of situation. People had tried this before, but he had just ran. There was nowhere to run here. He was outnumbered.

 

“Look, I said I’m not interested. Goodbye.” He pushed her away, not to hard, but enough to get his point across.

 

“I see.” She looked down at him, smirking, “Maybe you’d prefer Rolo then?” 

 

“I don’t- I-“ Keith stumbled backward as Rolo walked towards him, “I know what you’re trying to do. It isn’t going to work.”

 

“Where’d your friends go?”

 

“They weren’t my friends. I grouped up with them, but I didn’t like their objectives, so I left.”

 

Rolo looked him up and down, “And just what were their objectives? You split up from them because you didn’t like them, so you wouldn’t care telling us, right?”

 

“I don’t know who you think I am, but I am not a snitch.”

 

Nyma spoke up from her the other side of the room, “Rolo, there’s two backpacks over here.”

 

_ Shit. _

 

Rolo smiled at her, lighting a cigarette, “Well, ain’t that something? We saw three people with him though. Search the bag for supplies, take what you can.” He looked back at Keith, “Listen, I don’t want to hurt you, but I will if I have to. So- Where’s the rest of your group?”

 

“I don’t have a group. Period.” If these people thought Keith was going to talk, they were wrong.

 

The man sighed, blowing smoke into Keith’s face, “Alright, let’s try this again,” He shoved the butt of his cigarette into Keith’s wrist, “Where did they go.”

 

Keith tried not to scream, if he did he knew Pidge would try to come out and stop this, but it was impossible. When he didn’t answer, Rolo only did it again, and again, and again. He clenched his teeth, screams stopping in his throat, coming out more like a whine than anything else.

 

There was a rustle in the closet.

 

“Rolo,” Nyma said in a sing-song voice, “I think we’ve found them.”

 

He stood up, leaving Keith in the floor gripping his arm, “Let’s get their stuff and go. Burning flesh don’t smell too good.” Rolo reached for the door handle.

 

Ignoring the multiple, probably second-degree, burns on his wrist, he jumped up, grabbing Hunk’s baseball bat and aiming for Rolo’s left leg. Keith heard a crack after it hit, Rolo screaming. Nyma grabbed her gun and pointed it at Keith, pointing at straight between his eyes.

 

“HANDS UP!” She yelled.

 

But he refused.

 

“I’m not repeating myself! Put your hands up!”

 

“Put the backpacks down.”

 

“I’m the one holding the gun, you have no right to command me!”

 

“PIDGE!” Keith dropped to the ground.

 

The closet door slammed open, hitting Nyma and knocking her down. Pidge jumped out and ran over to Keith, who had crawled over, snatching Nyma’s gun and throwing it across the room. Hunk and Lance stumbled out as well, but they were so disoriented that they didn’t know what was going on.

 

“Keith, are you okay?!” 

 

“Get your bags and get out of here! Now!”

 

Hunk and Lance grabbed the bags and ran for the door, but Pidge was more resistant, “We aren’t leaving you!”

 

“I’ll catch up with you!”

 

“But-!”

 

“Pidge, I promise!” He yelled.

 

Pidge stared at him, Lance pulling at her wrist. She could faintly hear him yelling, telling her that they had to leave and they had to leave now. Although, she didn’t want to, Pidge knew that Keith wasn’t the type to break a promise. Hunk yelled to Keith, “We’ll be at the place we talked about! Meet us there!”

 

Not even minutes after they left, they heard a gunshot.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Keith, Baby, you made a promise, you can't do this to them.
> 
> Sorry for the cliffhanger, but at least I got another chapter out this soon? I hated writing Rolo and Nyma to be jerks, but hey, maybe I can get a redemption arc in here somewhere if they're still alive.
> 
>  
> 
> Tumblr: ash-alert


	6. 6- New View

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A new perspective.

_ May 5th, 20XX, 1:35pm _

 

It was an unsettling feeling being this far away from the base. Well, actually, the field wasn’t that far away, but it was a few cabins down, and Shiro would prefer to stay with the others. It wasn’t even a field, per say, just a small garden used to supply food to their small group. There were only three people, plus four pets that didn’t eat much, but they still needed to, regardless.

 

Allura was a strong young woman, her only goal was to survive and help her group do the same. Sometimes she could get hooked up on the past, but in this world who couldn’t? Her Father’s friend, Coran, who had basically grown to be another father to her, had chopped off her hair after they learned the hard way that the zombies could grab people, so her hair was slightly less than shoulder length now. For the whole group’s safety.

 

Coran. Coran was nice, albeit a bit eccentric. He always cared for everyone no matter who they were and gave out the most friendly and open aura out of anyone that Shiro had met. Plus, he was one Hell of a story-teller. He was usually the one to calm down fights and take care of the supplies while Shiro and Allura went on supply runs.

 

Allura’s job today was to stand guard.

Coran’s was to fish.

Shiro was in the garden, picking weeds.

 

He had fallen multiple times and he could confirm face fulls of dirt, in fact, were not nice. Shiro took a deep breath and pushed himself off of the ground. Of course, he still wasn’t used to having only one of his arms, but it had been more than a year since it happened, so he believed he would get the hang of it soon. He had to believe in something.

 

Shiro hated remembering that place. The dark, unforgiving, and self-proclaimed ‘scientists’ who had done this to him, done this to everyone. All that went through his mind at night was how he could have done something to stop it. When those people went mad and became those flesh-eating monsters, he could have stopped it. He stopped most of them, but then one escaped.

 

The scientist used him, not for their tests on the newfound disease, but to fight it. To  _ literally _ fight it. They changed many innocent people, made them insane to the point where they weren’t even human anymore, and then they put them in a cage. One versus one, one versus two, one versus three, and so on until Shiro finally lost.

 

It happened quick. He was fighting a group of them and he managed to get most of them down, but there was an outlier. One of the corpses was smarter than the rest, actually using strategy. While he fought off the others, it struck, sinking its teeth into his hand. Shiro could still feel the bite. It was a searing pain unlike anything he had ever felt before. Worse than a broken leg, a dog bite, or a muzzle digging into the bridge of his nose, yes, it was something completely different, completely agonizing. He wouldn’t wish it upon even the worst people.

 

The scientists wasted no time killing the remaining corpses and dragging Shiro out of the cage and to the nearest testing room. They threw him onto the operating table and got straight to business. No morphine, no pain pills, just a saw wedging its way into his upper arm. He was grateful that he passed out from the pain before they were half-way done.

  
  


“Shiro? Are you okay?”

 

Shiro realized he was staring at his shoulder again, not doing his work, “Y- Yeah. I’m fine, Coran. I’m sorry.”

 

“It’s alright, I can’t imagine what you went through. Here, I’ll help you.”

 

The older man smiled and bent down, pulling out weeds left and right.

 

“You’re too good at this, Coran.”

 

“Well, I had a garden myself before all this!” Coran boasted while twirling his moustache between his fingers, “She was beautiful. Plants of every kind, but I loved the trees, especially pears, I love pears.”

 

“Maybe we can find some canned pears on the next supply run.” Shiro smiled.

 

“Oh, don’t pressure yourself! I’ll be fine.” 

 

“It’s no problem. We take anything we can find anyway.” He paused, “How’s your ankle?”

 

“Doing better, for sure. I’ve stayed off of it for a while, I’m just making rounds trying to exercise it a little.”

 

Shiro nodded. He worriedly looked at his bracelet, a simple black band with a grey button in the middle.

 

“Coran, can you press the button on my bracelet?” 

 

“Hm? What for, boy?”

 

“My friend and boyfriend have the other part of it. It’s supposed to help them find me. I used to get distracted and wander off a lot, it has a locator chip in it.”

 

“Sure.” He smiled and held the button down a few seconds, not sure if it was needed, but just in case. “Where were they again?”

 

“Texas. Then I got abducted and… I don’t know where they are now. I guess they should have gotten trackers too…”

 

“I’m sure they’ll find you. In fact, I bet you they’re almost here! Next two weeks or so, I’d say!”

 

He let out a weak laugh, “I want you to be right more than anything, Coran, but I don’t think they’re that close.”

 

“Oh, I do. I’m sure they’re-“

 

“What if they’ve forgotten about me? What if they gave up because I’m so far away? Oh God, Coran, what if they’re dead?! If they died trying to find me I could never live with that!” 

 

Coran sighed, “Breath in four seconds.”

 

He did.

 

“Hold seven. Exhale eight. Keep on doing it, my boy. You’re okay.”

 

Shiro would hate to admit it, but it worked. Coran or Allura would go through the numbers with him every time he started to panic like this. It was nice having someone there for him. After all he went through at that facility, he knew he could trust these two.

 

“You wanna tell me about them again? That always calms you down.”

 

“I- What about them?..”

 

“What you all do before this?”

 

“...Air Force. Adam was my navigator.”

 

“What about the stubborn one? What was his name?”

 

“Keith. Fighter Pilot too.”

 

“That sounds fun! Hmm…” Coran thought of more questions to ask, “They have any nervous habits? Your brain can’t seem to keep up with your mouth when you’re nervous.” He smiled.

 

“Adam would just tap his foot or squeeze my hand. Keith would clean anything and everything to get his mind off of things. No one could complain though, since he was always nervous, the base was spotless…”

 

“We could use that here. We never got to clean up the debris from the last attack. You think he’ll help us out?”

 

Shiro chuckled, “If I ask, he will, trust me.”

 

“Dedicated friend. I like him already.”

 

“You have no idea.” Shiro smiled.

 

“Let’s get the rest of these weeds pulled and plants watered. You can tell me more while we’re at it.”

 

“Thank you, Coran.”

  
  
  


_ May 5th, 20XX, 7:40pm _

The mice ran around in front of the fireplace, having the time of their life while Allura cooked the fish that Coran had caught earlier. Usually they didn’t have ‘big meals’ like this, but Coran had insisted that they did tonight. He said something about a feeling he had and Shiro having a bit of a panic today. She was more than happy to make all of this food if someone was feeling down. There was one problem though.

 

“Plachu! Stop messing with Chuchule, she hasn’t done anything to you!” She told the mouse sternly. He was biting her ear, but didn’t stop just because Allura told him to. “Plachu, stop being a butt!” She picked him up and brought him closer to her face, “Do you hear me?”

 

He squeaked sadly.

 

“You talking to those mice  _ again _ , Allura?”

 

“Shiro!” She put the mouse down, turning to look at the man and smiling nervously, “Yes, I am. They can understand me, they just don’t… listen.” 

 

“I’m sure.” He noticed the fish cooking in the fireplace.

 

“Umm… What’s all of this?”

 

“Coran wanted me to fix it for us.”

 

Shiro sighed, “We can’t let things go to waste like this.”

 

“It’s not a waste. It’s specially made for tonight.” 

 

“Why?”

 

“He told me you had a bit of a… panic.”

 

“That doesn’t mean make a big meal so I’ll feel better.”

 

“Will it make you feel better though?”

 

“...Look, I’m just tired, I need sleep.”

 

“Go take a nap then. I’ll come and get you when dinner is ready.”

 

He smiled, “Thank you, Allura.”

 

“Not a problem. You should be happy that I’m cooking it and not Coran or yourself.”

 

Shiro chuckled, “It isn’t our fault we can’t cook.” 

 

“Mmm, is it not???” She teased.

 

“Goodnight.”

 

“Goodnight, Shiro.”

 

Shiro went out to the cabin. They would have all had separate cabins if Coran wasn’t so nervous as to think they would get attacked during the night. Sure, it was possible, but the fence they had set up had protected them from that on multiple occasions, it just wasn’t realistic anymore. Even so, all three of them shared a cabin to put Coran’s mind at ease. 

 

Just then, Coran ran into the building, “Allura!”

 

“Coran,” She smiled and stood up, “Dinner isn’t r-”

 

“There’s a group at the gate!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have the next chapter already done, but it's 10:03pm and I usually go to bed right after 8:00pm. I'll post it tomorrow. <3
> 
>  
> 
> tumblr: ash-alert   
> instagram: ash_alert  
> (I drew Pidge from this fic, if you wanna see it, go to my tumblr and search the tag "fic: made to suffer" or to my insta :) )  
> (Or if you wanna draw something from this fic and show me, submit it to my tumblr and I'll fawn over it literally forever and love you with all of my heart.)


	7. 7- Confrontation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The group travels to the lake resort.
> 
> (Just 3,472 words of angst.)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger warnings: 
> 
> -Car wreck  
> -Mention of burns  
> -Broken arm  
> -Concussion  
> -Me torturing every character I can get my grubby little hands on.

_ May 5th, 20XX, 1:30pm _

 

“He is- isn’t back yet… What if he’s dead?..” Hunk paced around the room.

 

Pidge refused to walk in circles doing nothing but worrying. Instead, she worried while trying to get the map to work. The power was completely depleted, but she had a feeling if she rerouted the solar panels, she could easily get it working  if when Keith comes back. She was jittery and on the verge of tears again, but she had to do this for him.

 

“I doubt he’s dead. Doesn’t seem to go down easily.” Lance mumbled.

 

“Did you not hear the gunshot?!”

 

“Yes, but…” He sighed, “Why would he even do that for us? We were arguing about him leaving, I thought he couldn’t care less about what happens to us. What did they do to him?..”

 

“Be quiet, I can’t concentrate.” Pidge sniffled, “We shouldn’t have left him in the first place…”

 

“Yeah…” Hunk and Lance both agreed.

 

They all sat in silence, Hunk peeking out the door window every now and then. 

 

-xxx-

 

It didn’t take too long for Pidge to get the map working again, especially when Hunk started helping her instead of moping by the door. It was, for the more part, an easy fix, but then they ran into another problem- Power. 

 

“Hey, don’t you have a solar panel on your radio? That would be easier than rerouting the whole system.”

 

“Yeah, but I need my radio in case Keith- Oh my God, we could have been talking to him this whole time!”

 

Lance and Hunk scrambled to Pidge’s side, who had pulled out her radio and began pretty much screaming into it.

 

“Keith?! Are you there?!”

 

They only had to wait a few seconds before they got a response, “Are you guys okay?”

 

The trio let out simultaneous sighs of relief. So, he wasn’t dead. That was probably the best news they’d gotten today.

 

“Quick question. Whose idea was it to meet at the Geography room? Y’know, considering this is the first time I’ve been to this Godforsaken school and have no idea where I am or am supposed to be going?”

 

“Oh… I forgot.” Hunk frowned.

 

“It’s fine. Can someone guide me there though? I stopped at the nurse’s office.”

 

“Nurse’s office? Are you okay?” Pidge asked. He didn’t sound ‘okay.’

 

“Yeah, I’m fine. Just a few second degree burns.” 

 

“What did they do to you?” 

 

“Nothing much. They tried to seduce me and take our supplies, then they got mad when I didn’t tell them what they wanted to hear and shoved a lit cigarette into my wrists.”

 

“Wait-” Lance stopped, “ _ Both  _ of them tried to seduce you?”

 

“In what world is  _ that  _ the important part of the story?”

 

“Sorry, I just- Nevermind. At least, from what I saw, the girl was hot. How’d you say no to  _ her _ ?” He grinned.

 

“I didn’t even notice her when she walked in.”

 

“How?!” Lance asked, half-way joking.

 

“Focused on something else I guess. There’s barely anything in the Nurse’s office, it’s been raided already.”

 

“Alright, Lance’s gonna lead you here while Hunk and I work on the coordinates. Is that okay?”

 

“I won’t  _ openly  _ complain about it.” Keith sighed, “As long as I get there.”

 

Lance felt like that was a hit at him, but now wasn’t the time. He started giving Keith directions to the room they were positioned at. Surprisingly, he only messed it up a couple of times.

  
  
  


_ May 5th, 20XX, 1:30pm _

  
  


Lance was horrible at giving directions actually. It took way longer than expected and he ran Keith into zombies more than once. It stressed everyone out, but when he finally got to the Geography room, all of that disappeared. After the door was closed and locked, everyone jumped him in a hug. 

 

“You’re okay!”

 

“Oh, Man, I thought we lost you.”

 

Hunk couldn’t say anything, he was crying into Keith’s shoulder.

 

“I don’t- Um… Can we stop with the hugging, please?..”

 

They all backed away, just to start bombarding him with questions. “Why did you do that for us?” “Did you take care of them?” “How badly hurt are you?” “Can I see the burns?”

 

Keith sighed, “I couldn’t kill them, no, but I don’t think they’ll be bothering us anymore.”

 

“What? But- they hurt you…”

 

“Pidge, they had a dog, what was I supposed to do? Kill them and leave it with no one to take care of it? I can’t do that.”

 

“Wow, Military Man has a soft spot for dogs.”

 

“You’re going to have a soft spot broken into your skull if you keep calling me that. How did you know?” He was clearly upset.

 

“I have a really hard time going to sleep. I heard you and Pidge… talking.”

 

Keith stayed quiet, just walking past him to the map. Pidge followed and started explaining the device, “This machine renders a three dimensional hologram map of the United States so students can-”

 

“I don’t need to know what it does or what it was used for. I need him.”

 

“...Right. Let me get the coordinates in really quick.” 

  
  


In the corner of the room, Lance and Hunk whispered to each other.

 

“Dude, he just saved our asses and now he’s acting like he doesn’t care about us again.”

 

“Why would he just let those people torture him because of us and then act like this?”

 

It didn’t make sense. He kept them a secret until he had no other route to take, Pidge literally keeping him from getting a bullet in the skull. He saved them. Then again, what had they done for him besides trying to get him to open up and keeping him company?

 

“We need to show him that we can be trusted.”

 

“But he’s leaving as soon as he gets the location…”

 

“We can go with him.”

 

“Lance, I doubt he’d be fond of that idea.”

 

“What other choice do we have? Pidge’s family isn’t here, we’ve checked the whole place. Our best bet, if we want to live, is going with him.”

  
  


“The coordinates lead to… Planglitch- Wait, no, sorry. Panguitch Lake Resort in Utah”

 

“That’s… Not that far away…” Pidge sweared that she could actually see hope in Keith’s eyes.

 

“So, you know where that is?”   
  


“I know where the lake is. Thank you, Pidge.” Keith headed for the door.

 

Pidge yelled, “Wait!”

 

Keith stopped, his hand still on the handle, but turning to face her, “What?”

 

Pidge shared a look with Lance, then with Hunk. Each of them had agreed, at least they were on the same level. Hunk, being the most agreeable once, spoke first.

 

“We’re coming with you.”

 

Keith sighed, “No, you aren’t.” He went to open the door again, but Lance slammed it shut.

 

“Yes, we are. Whether you like it or not. I’d hate to admit it, but you’ve helped us a lot. Now, we want to help you.”

 

“Keith, you went through all of this to help me find my family, and even though they weren’t here and even though you’re a big jerk sometimes and I’ve only known you for a few days… You’re kind of… a brother to me now. I know you want to come off as an unapproachable tough guy, but I know you aren’t.”

 

“You’re all just trying to use me to survive like everyone else I’ve come across.” He said bitterly.

 

“No, we aren’t!” Hunk assured him, “We care about you, Keith, we really do.”

 

There was a long silence before Keith spoke again.

 

“Come on, before I change my mind.”

 

The trio smiled. Despite the impending threat of zombies breathing down their neck every day, they knew they’d be okay. They had each other.

  
  
  


_ May 5th, 20XX, 2:45pm _

 

“Why is Lance driving again? I’m the one who knows where the place is.” Keith argued.

 

Pidge laughed from the front seat, “You just got a cigarette dug into your arms a while ago, we aren’t letting you drive. Besides, now Hunk can keep an eye on your burns.”

 

“You don’t have to ‘keep an eye’ on my arm. It isn’t going to magically get any better or worse in the next hour.”

 

“You never know.” Hunk smiled, “Just a precaution.”

 

“What, you think I’m going to turn or something?”

 

“No! It’s just in case the wound gets worse, nothing like that!”

 

Keith sighed and stared out the window. Sand, sand, a few scattered cars, a walker that they didn’t need to worry about, sand, and more sand. This was going to be a long ride.

  
  


“Lance, pull over real quick, I gotta pee.” Hunk said.

 

“Really? You can’t wait? Why didn’t you go at The Garrison?”   
  


“I didn’t have to go at The Garrison, come on…” He pouted.

 

Pidge spoke up, “I gotta pee too.”

Lance groaned, “Fiiine.”

  
  
  


“So…” He was trying to make conversation with Keith, he was, but how did you talk to this guy? He always looked grumpy. He always has his arms crossed when he’s not fighting, Lance once read somewhere on the internet that crossed arms were a subconscious sign of trying to close yourself off to other, and apparently it was right. He’s definitely closed off, what was Lance supposed to say?

 

“You’re bad at this.” 

 

“Well, you’re not any better, at least I’m trying.” Lance sighed, “Who is this ‘Shiro’ guy?”

 

“My friend.”

 

“...Short answer. Thanks.”

 

“You’re welcome.”

 

“That was sarcasm.”

 

“Oh… Sorry.” Keith frowned, rubbing his thumbs over his fingers. 

 

_ ‘Probably a nervous tick. Am I making him upset?’ _ Lance thought.

 

“Where’d you meet him? You have a crush on him or something?”

 

“No, I thought you listened to the talk I had with Pidge?”

 

“I did, but… refresh it for me?” He smiled.

 

“...I met him in training. Air force. No, I don’t have a crush on him. He’s my friend.”

 

“You reacted to the accusation of having a same sex crush way better than most people I know.” Lance paused, “Well,  _ knew, _ I guess.”

 

“Same s-... Right... I’m not offended by that or anything.”

 

Lance smiled, “So, what’s this ‘Shiro’ guy like?”

 

“He’s… Shiro’s a born leader. He’s kind, patient, and the strongest guy I’ve ever known. Sometimes he comes off really serious and intimidating, but he’s really laid back if you get to know him. Honestly, he’s pretty much a six foot tall teddy bear with anxiety. I just hope he’s okay...”

 

“Well, you said it yourself, right? He’s the strongest guy you’ve ever known. He’s okay. Probably relaxing in a boat on the lake right now.”

 

Keith smiled at the thought, “I hope you’re right.”

 

Lance immediately averted his eyes, “I’m getting back in the car.” 

 

“Did I do something?”

 

“No!” He slammed the door shut.

 

Keith sighed, “So much for that, I guess.”

 

Pidge and Hunk returned after a few minutes, “Okay! We’re back, we can go now!”

 

“Pidge, what’d I say about yelling?”

 

“Um… Not to do it?”

 

“And what did you just do?”

 

“...Sorry, Keith…”

 

He showed no signs of forgiving her, “Sorry won’t save your life. Get in the car. I’d rather get there before sunset.”

 

Hunk smiled nervously as he joined the group in the car, “We have plenty of time. We’ll definitely make it before sunset. Right, Lance?”

 

“Don’t jinx it, Buddy.”

  
  


_ May 5th, 20XX, 3:08pm _

 

“That story sucks. Tell us a different one.” Pidge sighed.

 

Lance pouted, “Like what? I’m not a good storyteller!”

 

“He’s right. The only thing he’s really good at describing are the girls he’s had crushes on.” Hunk laughed in the back seat, nudging Keith, who wasn’t really paying attention in the first place. He was more interested in the clouds that in the stories.

 

“Hey! Not true! There was-” Lance looked back in the rearview mirror and whispered, “That one guy…”

 

No one heard him.

 

“Ooh! I wanna hear about your crushes!” Pidge grinned, “How many of them rejected you?”

 

“I’m ignoring that last part, but get ready for a  _ long  _ list.” Lance cracked his knuckles, “Okay, so when I was a little kid there was Aleja, Mariana, and Corina. I don’t remember them much, but I’m assuming they were really cute since I had crushes on them- I have good taste, trust me. Mariana and I actually went on a ‘date’ kinda, but it was technically just a playdate. Mamá only set it up because she was one of those parents that made toddlers do wedding photoshoots and stuff like that, so she thought I would end up wi-”

 

There was a loud pop, smoke billowed around the car. Lance cursed, trying to stop the car, but it didn’t work. Everyone was yelling, it was so loud, he couldn’t focus on anything, he slammed on the brakes.

 

The car flipped.

 

-xxx-

 

Hunk woke up, his ears were ringing, but he was slowly regaining vision. He looked around. Lance and Keith were awake, but barely, and Lance was holding his arm. However, Pidge was knocked out, blood coming from her head. He groaned, propping himself up so he wouldn’t hit his head and unlocking his seatbelt. 

 

“Keith? Pidge is bleeding…”

 

Within a minute, Keith was dragging Pidge out of the car.

 

“Hey, Kid, can you hear me? Open your eyes.”

 

“Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God- Hunk!” Lance yelled. He had just freed himself from the car and was already freaking out. Hunk made it to his side, grimacing when he saw Lance’s arm. It was curved into almost a ‘c’  shape in the middle.

 

“I’m gonna throw up…”

 

“Not helping, Hunk!!!”

 

Keith walked over, carrying a very disoriented Pidge, “What’s wrong?”

 

“My arm is broken! What do you mean ‘what’s wrong?!’”

 

“Hunk, I think Pidge has a concussion. Hold her while I take care of him.”

 

“Wait- A concussion? That’s like… The brain… You don’t think she’s gonna-”

 

“No, she isn’t.”

 

“What are you going to ‘take care of?’” Lance asked, pain  _ and _ fear evident in his voice.

 

“I have to reset it.” 

 

“No! No you don’t! Leave it alone!”

 

“Yes I do. Give me your arm and try to keep quiet. That crash probably already attracted all of the walkers within miles, your screaming isn’t going to help. It won’t hurt at all, trust me, I’ve had it done before.”

 

“But… Are you sure?..” 

 

“I am.” Keith smiled gently, his voice soft, “Give me your arm.”

 

Lance (almost happily if not for the pain) obliged, staring at Keith as he took his arm in his hands. Hunk raised an eyebrow and the two of them, unsure why Lance had chosen to believe that blatant lie. He didn’t say anything, just held Lance’s other hand so he had something to grip onto.

 

“One, two-” Keith snapped the other man’s arm back into place.

 

Lance squeezed Hunk’s hand with what he was assuming was all the power he had. His scream came out as a squeak. “You said it wouldn’t hurt!!!”

 

“And you  _ actually  _ trusted me?”

 

“Yes!” Lance yelled.

 

“Oh…” He paused, “Here. We don’t have a cast so-” Keith took off his jacket and made it into a makeshift cast for Lance, tying the arms around Lance’s neck. “It’s the best we can do for now.”

 

“Why do you wear that jacket anyway? It’s hot.” Hunk asked.

 

“None of your business. Let’s move. We might make it by sundown if we’re lucky enough, but I wouldn’t count on it, seeing what just happened.”

 

Hunk sighed as they watched him walk ahead. Pidge shifted in his arms. “Why’s ‘e closin’ up again?” She slurred her words.

 

“Because he’s an asshole.” Lance frowned and got up, “You heard him. Let’s go.”

 

“Looks like we’ve got a long walk ahead of us.”

 

“Not me! Should be soon there though.” Pidge grinned and laughed to herself.

 

“Yeah. Just rest, it’ll help you heal.”

 

It was a long walk to the lake. 

  
  
  


_ May 5th, 20XX, 8:00pm _

 

“-and that’s how we found him. Well, how Pidge and I found him. Pidge is hurt though and so is Lance. We did our best, but they need somewhere to rest.”

 

The group stood just inside the gate of the lake resort, talking to an older man and a dark skinned woman. (Lance had  _ already  _ tried to flirt with the woman.) Shiro was no where to be seen and Keith was starting to get worried.

 

Allura frowned and looked at Coran, who had a smile on his face, “Of course you can stay! Keith, I’ve heard so much about you and Adam!” 

 

Keith froze.

 

“Where is he by the way?”

 

“C-... Can you just help Lance and Pidge?..”

 

“Sure thing!”

 

“Coran! We don’t know these people. We can’t just help everyone we find.”

 

“But they know Shiro!”

 

“Where is he?”

 

“None of your-” Allura started.

 

“Let me go get him!” Coran smiled and jogged of, mumbling ‘ouch’ every time he put too much pressure on his ankle.

 

Pidge wiggled her way out of Hunk’s arms and made her way over to Keith, stumbling and finally gripping onto his arm to steady herself, “Keith?.. You don’t- don’t have to tell him alone…”

 

“I-” Everyone could tell he was starting to panic. He was shaking and digging his nails into his arms. It was unsettling to see him like this. He was supposed to be the tough one.

 

Allura crossed her arms, unfazed by his panicked state, “Tell him what?”

 

“Keith!” Shiro yelled, smiling. He ran up and hugged the other man, nearly crying.

 

Keith was barely responsive, he hugged him back, yes, but his mind was somewhere else. He hadn’t thought about how he was going to tell Shiro about Adam. If he was honest, he tried to erase Adam from his mind completely. Shiro was right here in front of him after all of that searching and now he just wanted to run away, avoid the stinging in his eyes.

 

“What happened to your arm?..”

 

“Long story. I was bit and my kidnappers had to cut it off.” Shiro frowned, it was time for the confrontation that Keith was dreading and he knew it, “Where is Adam?”

 

He couldn’t say anything. Keith tried to speak, he really did, but nothing came out of his mouth. Pidge held his hand tightly. His breathing was getting more unsteady.

 

“Keith. Where is he.” Shiro demanded.

 

“He- He didn’t make it…”

 

“What do you mean he ‘didn’t make it?!’ Where is he?!” He stepped closer, clenching his fist.

 

Keith was blinking rapidly, avoiding eye contact, “He turned and attacked me, I had to-”

 

A sharp pain spread throughout Keith’s jaw and he was suddenly on the ground.

 

“Keith!” Pidge yelled, immediately groaning and holding her head, but kneeling down next to him. Hunk and Lance were beside him in seconds.

 

“How could you let him  _ die _ ?!” Shiro screamed at him, Keith didn’t speak, he just endured it. The trio protected him from any other punches Shiro might have tried to throw.

 

“Stop yelling at him. He had to do it in self defense, Adam was bitten and he didn’t tell Keith. He had no other choice.” Lance said sternly.

 

Pidge, despite her jumbled thoughts tried to explain, “Adam was trying… trying to take Keith East, instead o- of West to find you, and turned on the highway. He turned into- monster and Keith had to- to shoot. Adam is- left scars on Keith’s neck.”

 

Shiro, wiping the tears from his face, “Don’t! Just-!” He breathed in shakily, “Don’t…” He walked away. 

 

Everyone was quiet for a few minutes, Pidge tried to help Keith up, but he was frozen, Blood trailed out of his mouth and down his neck, but he didn’t even attempt to wipe it off. He didn’t care.

 

Allura spoke up, “Well, let’s get the girl in bed and the skinny one a cast or something, Coran. I doubt they’ll be allowed to stay  _ now _ , but we can help them for tonight.” She glared at Keith and pulled Pidge up, leading her to a cabin they had cleared out. She tried to resist, but she was so tired she practically fell asleep on the older woman on the way. 

 

Coran lead Lance to the building that was once used as a restaurant, but they used it to store supplies and cooking now. He patched him up and made him a semi-proper splint.

 

Hunk didn’t know what to do. Keith was just sitting on the ground, blood coming from his mouth, not saying anything. Sure, Hunk liked silence sometimes, but this was dark and suffocating.

 

“Keith?.. Do you wanna talk about it? I’m so sorry this-”

 

“I want everyone to leave me alone...” His voice cracked as he stood up and walked away, headed for the lake’s shore. Hunk didn’t know what to do.

 

So he didn’t do anything.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (: I told you the next chapter would be out today. (: But... :) Are you happy? :)
> 
> tumblr: ash-alert  
> instagram: ash_alert


	8. 8- Reconciliation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Arguments are solved.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> P.S. of summary: Keith is gay.
> 
> No trigger warnings I think?

_ May 6th, 20XX, 6:30am _

 

The sun was starting to come up, fog rising from the lake and washing onto land, it felt peaceful for the first time in a long time. At least, to Hunk it did. His mind drifted from peace to the events that had taken place yesterday. Pidge had a concussion, Lance’s arm was broken, and only God knew how Keith was doing.

 

He looked away from the window and back at the cabin, the three beds that they were graciously given. His was empty, obviously. He didn’t feel like he needed to sleep anymore, surprisingly so, since Lance would roll onto his arm in his sleep and wake up screaming from the pain. Hunk was really close to just holding him all night so he couldn’t move, but the beds weren’t big enough for that. 

 

Coran had brought them dinner last night, which they were absolutely grateful for, the plates were sitting on the table, so Hunk decided to take them back to what he assumed was the ‘kitchen.’ He picked them up and opened the door, careful not to drop any of the glass. He distracted himself by humming on his way, shimmying his shoulders and smiling. 

 

“Good morning! I don’t think I got your name!”

 

Hunk jumped, nearly dropping the plates, but he was able to make a smooth recovery, “Coran!”

 

The older man twirled his moustache, “Well, that’s  _ my  _ name, not yours.” He grinned.

 

He smiled nervously, “I’m sorry. You just surprised me... My name is Hunk.”

 

“Really? Is that a nickname or is it  _ actually  _ your name?” 

 

“It’s my real name. My mom thought it would be funny to joke about, but the doctor actually wrote it on my birth certificate so it stuck.” 

 

“Sounds like something my parents would have done.” Coran laughed, “I’ll take those plates for you if you do me a favor.”

 

“Oh, I can do it, thanks though.”

 

“Hunk… I need you to do this. Please.”

 

There was a sad tone in his voice that Hunk picked up on. So, whatever Coran needed him to do was kind of serious.  _ Great _ .

 

“What is it?”

 

“That fight seems to really be getting to both of them. I’ve talked to Shiro a bit, but can you talk to Keith? He won’t listen to me.”

 

“I don’t know if he’ll listen to me either. I haven’t known him long.”

 

“Well… Try at the very least. For all of our sakes.” Coran smiled sadly, “He hasn’t moved from that spot all night and I don’t think he’s eaten anything either.”

 

Coran gestured to the lakeside where they could see Keith sitting on the dock with his knees pulled up to his chest. If that’s all he had been doing all night, watching the water, Hunk couldn’t  imagine what he must be thinking about.

 

“I will. Just don’t count on him getting better for me of all people.”

 

The older man took the dirty plates and grinned before walking away. Hunk took a deep breath.

 

“I can do this.”

  
  
  


The dock creaked underneath his feet with each step. He knew it’d alert Keith that someone was coming to talk to him, so he was kind of glad for it- lower chance of surprising Keith and accidentally getting stabbed he guessed.

 

“Go away. I don’t need to talk about it.” Keith voice was harsh.

 

“Okay, okay. We won’t take about it. I just- wanna keep you company. Must have been lonely out here all night by yourself.” Hunk sat down, crossing his legs and sighing. Keith wasn’t responding, he knew he was going to have to keep the conversation running himself.

 

“So, how are your burns?”

 

“Fine.”

 

“What about your face? You got hit pretty hard…”

 

Keith turned to look at him so he could see. It wasn’t the worst bruise Hunk had ever seen, but it was definitely probably the  _ second  _ worst. It was a violent red and there was obviously still blood running under the surface of the skin, Hunk cringed.

 

“It’s not  _ that  _ bad. I’ve been hurt way worse.”

 

“It’s not that it looks bad it’s just… You spent all this time looking for this guy and when you finally find him-”

 

“I don’t need a recap, Hunk. Shiro’s just dealing with a really big loss right now. It isn’t his fault he did this.”

 

“Then why are you so upset?” Hunk asked softly.

 

He could tell that question hit Keith hard. He thought about his answer thoroughly before he spoke, “Because I caused it. He’s upset because of me.”

 

“Keith, there is not a single thing you could have done to prevent this. Adam turned, you had to kill him. And sure, Shiro’s upset, he’s mourning, but that gives him no right to hit you like that.”

 

“Shiro’s a good guy.” He defended.

 

“I’m sure he is, but we need to let him cool off before I trust him. I know you’d give your life for him, but look where that’s gotten you, Keith…” Hunk gently traced over the bruise on Keith’s cheek.

 

Keith was silent, staring at him with a look Hunk couldn’t discern. His face was red for some reason.  _ ‘Maybe he was getting sick from staying outside all night?’  _ Hunk thought to himself. He could only guess it was that or worry. 

 

“Wanna go see Pidge and Lance now instead of sulking by yourself?”

 

“...Yeah.”

  
  
  


_ May 6th, 20XX, 7:50am _

 

Pidge was definitely doing a lot better. She could talk almost as fluently as her normal, but she still couldn’t walk by herself without falling over. She was dizzy, the light hurt her eyes, and she made sure every single person in the room knew it. 

 

“My eyes hurt.... I need sunglasses…” Pidge whined.

Lance was just as pouty as she was, but the second Allura walked in he straighten his posture and pretended his arm wasn’t shattered just yesterday.

 

“Good morning.” She smiled at them, “We’d like to have you join us for breakfast. We need to talk things over.”

 

“I’d love to.” Lance grinned.

 

Hunk sighed, “I’m sorry about him.” 

 

“It’s alright. Quite a common reaction these days.”

 

“Wait, you’ve come across other people” 

 

“Well, no, they’ve come across us. We let them stay and rest and then kick them out the next day so they don’t have the chance to take anything.” Allura glanced at Keith, “However, that’s not important right now. Follow me.”

 

“I’ll carry Pidge.” Keith told Hunk, “You just make sure Lance doesn’t say anything stupid.”

 

“I have never said anything stupid in my entire life!”

 

Hunk rolled his eyes, “Come on.” 

 

They followed Allura to the old restaurant.

  
  
  


Shiro wasn’t paying attention to whatever Allura was saying at the moment. He was picking at his food, eyes wandering anywhere else besides Keith, who chose to sit across from him, for some reason. Once he saw the bruise he had made, he couldn’t bring himself to look at all. Guilty was only one thing he was feeling right now. Guilt, regret, sadness, anger, and yet there was a void in his heart that did not want him to feel any of these emotions at all. It wanted him to be happy, excited…  _ relieved _ .

 

Adam was gone. He was gone and he wasn’t coming back anymore, but at least he didn’t have to live in this world- the blood, the guts, the starving, the anxiety of wondering if you’re going to die tomorrow or the day after, everything that the world had become. 

 

Then Shiro remembered what happened to release Adam from this world. He turned. He was shot by his own friend. Deep down, Shiro knew that Keith had to do it, it was a life or death situation, but it still hurt. The sickness that comes before turning had been something Shiro had witnessed at the laboratory. Fever, delusion, nausea, dizziness, fainting, memory loss, and insomnia were just a few of the symptoms he had witnessed. He wondered if it was painful for Adam, did he feel anything when he turned? Best case, he felt nothing at all and went peacefully, but the way everyone was talking about it, he doubted it could be true.

 

“Shiro, what do you think?”

 

He looked up from the table, obviously confused, “...I’m sorry. What did you say?”

 

“About the plan?” Coran raised an eyebrow and looked at Allura.

 

She just crossed her arms and pursed her lips, “It would be best for all of us! They need to go.”

 

“No!” Shiro stood up quickly, slamming his hand onto the table for balance, “They can stay!”

 

“Are you kidding? Shiro, you hit one of them and now you’re voting they stay? This is absurd!”

 

“Listen, I know what I did, I was being irrational and I was scared. We can’t turn them away.”

 

“We’ve turned everyone we’ve come across away. Just because you knew one of them _ over a year ago _ doesn’t mean we can trust them. You know that people change, especially after all of this. Do you remember our last  _ ‘friends _ ?’”

 

“I trust him, Allura.”

 

“Really? Okay, Keith-” Allura turned to look at him, “Do you trust the people you are with? Would you trust them with your life?”

 

Hunk and Lance silently shared a worried look. Pidge looked at him with hope in her eyes. 

 

“That’s not a good question.”

 

“Well, answer it anyway! Would you?!”

 

“I couldn't care less what happens to me, but I can tell you that I would trust them with Shiro’s life.” He glared at her.

 

Hunk’s eyes widened. Across the table, Shiro didn’t falter, he stood along with Keith. Everyone in the room could feel the tension and power from their auras- no one was going to pull them apart again. Not even Allura.

 

Her shoulders sank slightly and she looked at the group, “Fine. They will still need to prove themselves useful though. More mouths means more supplies and we’re almost out as it is. I’ll go on a supply run today and one of them can go with me. Not Pidge or Lance, obviously.”

 

Shiro frowned, “I usually go with you.”

 

“Shiro, you’re useful, don’t get me wrong, but the more hands we have the better.”

 

He sighed, “Okay. Hunk, do you know how to ride a horse?”

 

“Umm… No?”

 

“Today is your lucky day then. You’re about to learn.”

 

Coran grinned and stood up on his chair, “We have to go over rules first!” 

 

“Oh, thank you, Coran. I almost forgot.” Allura smiled. “Alright. Stay quiet and don’t go outside the fence without someone with you. If you see anything potentially dangerous tell Coran and if you want to take supplies ask me before you take them. Think before you act, but always be ready to fight or run. Especially now that we have seven people, pull your own weight and don’t forget about your responsibilities. Lastly, absolutely no one is allowed in cabin 608.”

 

“Wait, why stay away from cabin 608?” Keith asked.

 

Allura glared at him, “Because I said so.” She clapped her hands together, “Okay, Hunk, was it? Come with me. I’ll introduce you to Noir and Azura. You’ll be riding Noir.”

 

“That sounds scary, are you sure? What if I fall? I could break my arm or leg and that would be awful! You didn’t see Lance’s arm when it got broken. It was twisted an-”    
  


Allura pulled Hunk outside, he was probably going to talk her head off before they even got to the horses at the rate he was going. 

 

“So… We get to stay?” Pidge asked.

 

“Of course! We can’t kick you out, you’re injured.” Coran smiled.

 

Shiro relaxed, “I owe you all an apology. I’m so sorry about last night, it sure as Hell wasn’t a good first impression.”

 

“As long as you don’t hit him again, it’s fine.” Lance smiled nervously, “Or any of us for that matter…”

 

“I don’t usually hit anyone.”

 

“Shiro, it’s okay. You didn’t mean to.” Keith looked at him.

 

“Not now, but at the time, I really did and it wasn’t fair to you.” Shiro grabbed one of Keith’s hands and pulled him across the table into a hug.

 

“Oh-! Okay? Uh, can’t we- can’t I just walk over there?”

 

“No.”

 

Coran smiled, “I’d hate to break up the coming home party, but we should really show them around, Shiro.”

 

“Right. Sorry.” He let go of Keith, who was sitting on the table, “Let’s go then.”

 

-xxx-

 

For being a decent sized base, it was a simple set up. Two rows of cabins for sleeping and possessions, an old restaurant for storage and food, the old shower and laundry mat was repurposed for catching the occasional rain water.

 

Keith once again asked about cabin 608, Coran showed them where it was and what it looked like so they knew that it was the off limits one. Apparently, Allura used it to keep all of the tools and farming supplies so it was more of a  _ barn  _ if anything.

 

The horses were kept near the gazebo and water. The group got to see them as Hunk and Allura left. Lance waved to them and smiled. Noir was, as Lance suspected, a solid black horse and Azura was more of a grey-blue shade with white splotches over her coat. After not seeing a living animal in almost over a year, they were in awe. Pidge’s first thought was to pet one of them, but Keith was carrying her so she couldn’t reach them.

 

After the tour, they were taken to a cabin where Coran explained their first job to them. 

 

“Now that you know where everything is, let’s get you to work! This cabin hasn’t been cleaned up since we first got here so you are all going to help Shiro clean up while I take care of guard duty. This cabin AND the one next to it, on its left.”

 

“What? We just got here and you’re already making us clean? I’ve got a broken arm!”

 

Shiro raised an eyebrow at him, “If I can do it, you can too, Lance.”

 

Lance looked away with a red face, clearly embarrassed. He didn’t complain about anything else. Coran smiled and jumped closer to Keith quickly. 

 

“BOO! I’M GOING TO KICK YOU IN THE SHINS! THEN, I’M GOING TO KICK  _ SHIRO  _ IN THE SHINS! THE WORLD IS OVER! HOMEWORK! TAXES!”

 

Keith blinked slowly, “Umm…” 

 

The older man straightened himself up and cleared his throat, “Shiro informed me that you like to clean a lot when you are nervous. So, get to it!” He grinned as he walked out of the cabin.

 

Keith, in an state of confusion, looked to Shiro. He just chuckled nervously.

 

“Let’s just get started already…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> @ me: Why don't you let Keith kiss a cute boy, you absolute COWARD?!!!!!!!!!!
> 
> tumblr: ash-alert  
> instagram: ash_alert


	9. 9- Trust Issues

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In hopes to gain Keith's trust, Pidge and Lance decided to play some games with him.

May 6th, 20XX, 11:12am

 

Cleaning sucked. Lance had already known that before, but  _ somehow _ cleaning an old dusty cabin, that looked like a tornado had ran through it, reinforced that in his head. He was on his fourth attempt to try to get out of it and nothing was working. 

 

“I think my arm is more broken than it was before, I gotta go get that fixed I’ll see you guys-”

 

“Lance, you’re fine. Keep cleaning before I have to lock all of us in here.” Shiro was frankly tired of the excuses.

 

Lance groaned and sat heavily onto a bed, dust flying everywhere. He coughed and tried to swat the particles away with his good arm, “Why is it so dusty here in the first place?!”

 

“Don’t worry about it. We’re here to clean so it  _ won’t  _ be dusty.”

 

“Yeah. We’re almost done anyway. Well, Keith is at least.” Pidge looked over at Keith who was almost done cleaning his side of the room, only the bedside table was left to polish, “Hey, Keith, can you help me with my side?”

 

He didn’t take his eyes off of his task, “Sure. After I help Shiro.”

 

“Aww…” She pouted. Shiro was barely done with his side despite trying his best. At the rate they were going, it would be sunrise before they finished cleaning both of the cabins.

 

Shiro stood up, “How about you go start on the other cabin instead? We have this one under control.”

 

“Do we though? We’re missing two arms with you and me put together and that’s like we only have two people- one with a concussion.”

 

”We’ve got this, stop whining.” Pidge smiled. 

 

“...Do you think Hunk is okay?” 

 

“Wow, Keith, actually showing worry for somebody that  _ isn’t _ Shiro, are we?” Lance laughed.

 

Keith’s eyes snapped towards him, words that he wanted to say stuck in his throat. However, before anyone could say anything, he turned and left. 

 

“Lance! You really think making fun of him for caring about people is going to help our cause of trying to get him to trust us?!” Pidge yelled, gripping her head tightly afterwards.

 

Lance frowned, “Bu- I mean, it was a  _ joke _ . I wasn’t really making fun of him I just-“

 

“Wait, he  _ doesn’t  _ trust you?..” Shiro tilted his head, “He lied?”

 

The woman let go of her head, full realization of what she had said striking her.

 

“No, I can explain!” 

 

“Do you know what’s going to happen if Allura and Coran figure out that he doesn’t actually trust you? You’ll be kicked out within seconds!”

 

“He does trust us! He’s put our safety before his a million times in the short time we’ve known him!”

 

“That’s not saying much. He takes every chance he gets to be a self-sacrificing idiot.”

 

“But- He let Lance drive here.” 

 

“And from what I’ve been told, the car was totalled. I need you two to listen to me, we can  _ not  _ let Allura and Coran find out. You need to do some trust exercises with him, something,  _ anything  _ to make him trust you. Last time we had trust issues here it did not end up well.”

 

“What do you mean?” Lance asked.

 

“Allura let a group in once, five people. They stayed for a few months and she got closer and closer to their leader- she fell in love with him. But his group started taking things forcefully from other survivors and probably even murdering some of them, even though we never found evidence to back that up.”

 

“So, what happened to them?”

 

“We made them leave. It really hurt Allura, but at least they left willingly.”

 

“Where are they now? Do we need to worry about them?”

 

Shiro sighed, “We’re always worried they might come back and attack us, but we haven’t seen them since they left. We don’t know where exactly they went.”

 

“Great. So, now we need to worry about corpses wanting to eat our guts  _ and _ a crazy ex.” Lance said, voice dripping with sarcasm.

 

“ _ You _ need to worry about that fake trust issue! After we’re done here, you guys go find him immediately, do you understand?”

 

“And do what? He’s kind of hard to… get along with. How are we going to earn his trust?”

 

Shiro ran his hand through his hair in thought. How did he get Keith to trust him when they first met? Well, that strategy wasn’t going to work in this situation…

 

“Hey, Lance, remember when Professor Brooks had her classes do those trust games in project groups?”

 

“Yeah! The staring game was the best, everyone was cracking up because they couldn’t do it!”

 

Shiro made a face at that, “That one isn’t going to work, I can tell you already. You can try, but he can’t keep eye contact with  _ anyone _ , even me. Maybe another game?”

 

“How about trust falls and then we can move on to blindfold walks after that?”

 

“Try anything you can. Just don’t let Coran see you fail.”

 

Lance scoffed, “Who said we’re gonna fail?”

  
  
  


_ May 6th, 20XX, 1:45pm _

 

Almost two hours later, they had  _ just _ started with the trust exercises. Most of that time was just trying to explain to Keith why they had to do them and convincing him. (The convincing, surprisingly, wasn’t that hard.) Then they got to game one- The Staring Game.

 

“Okay, so, basically you’re supposed to keep eye contact for as long as you possibly can with the other person and you have to get to at least 30 seconds or you get a punishment.”

 

“Wait, what punishment?”

 

“I… don’t know…” Pidge furrows her eyebrows, “We don’t have to have one. Me and you will go first, stand in front of me.” 

 

“Pidge, I don’t think I can do this.”

 

“Come on. We believe in you.” 

 

Keith tried his best, but within two seconds it was already clear that he wouldn’t be able to do it. His hands started to fidget, he kept shifting his weight, and it was obvious that he was biting his tongue.

 

It didn’t last five seconds.

 

“I can’t. I can’t do that- I’m sorry.” He tensed up and turned away.

 

“What’s wrong?”

 

“I just- I can’t. Okay?”

 

Pidge frowned, “Okay… Next game then.”

 

“Please, tell me I don’t have to do that again.”

 

“No, nothing like that. Just trust falls!”

 

“Oh…”

 

Lance sighed, “Who goes first this time?”

 

“How about you two?” 

 

“Wait- Lance catching me? No. His arm is broken.”

 

“I can catch you with one arm!”

 

“I doubt you could even catch me with two.” Keith snapped at him.

 

“Okay, okay. Keith, you’ll catch Lance first. Then after three turns, Lance will catch you.”

 

“I’m okay with the first part, but-“

 

“No ‘but’ about it. First on the ground. Lance, turn.”

 

Lance groaned and turned around, crossing his arms. He complained about something under his breath, but it no one really wanted to hear negativity. 

 

“On the count of three. One. Two. Three.” Pidge said.

 

He fell backwards, Keith caught him. The next turn, Pidge didn’t count. Lance was to fall at a random time to make sure Keith was paying attention. 

 

He caught him again.

 

The final turn, Lance stood on a picnic table and fell at a random time once again. It took him longer, because he was terrified of hitting the ground. However, once again-

 

Keith caught him.

 

Then it was Lance’s turn to catch Keith.

 

“One. Two. Three.”

 

Keith didn’t fall back.

 

“Keith? Three means fall.”

 

He took a shaky breath in, “Sorry, can you count again?”

 

Pidge nodded, “One. Two. Three.”

 

Although they were both clearly struggling with this, Lance mostly because he had one working arm, they did it. Lance caught him. They immediately separated afterwards, but it was still progress.

 

For the next fall, they weren’t so lucky. Lance got distracted by something across the lake and they went tumbling down. Still, he was determined that he wasn’t going to let Keith get hurt because that would just set the trust meter all the way back to the beginning. So, when Keith  _ did _ fall, it was straight onto him. 

  
  


“I’m sorry! I saw something across the water! I’m sorry!” Lance repeated. Keith’s elbow was way too close to where it shouldn’t be for Lance  _ not _ to apologize.

 

“Lance,” Pidge yelled, “You have to pay attention!” 

 

“It was just-!” 

 

“Shut it.” Keith growled and got up.

 

Pidge frowned, “Listen, these games aren’t working, maybe we can just talk?”

 

“What is there to talk about? Why are we even doing this? I need to protect Shiro. That’s the only reason I’m here, I don’t need to trust you.”

 

“But Shiro wants you to trust us. He needs you to. You lied to Allura and Coran- if they find out then Shiro could be in danger too.”

 

Keith was silent. He uncrossed his arms and instead keep his fists clenched by his side.

 

“Fine. We’ll talk then.”

 

More silence.

 

“I know a fun  _ talking _ game!”

 

Keith groaned. Why did everything have to involve games with these two?

  
  
  


-xxx-

  
  
  


The game Lance suggested wasn’t that bad. It was just that Keith had no idea how to play at first, which was odd to both of them because it was extremely popular.

 

“Never Have I Ever. You hold up five fingers and someone says ‘never have I ever’ and then something they haven’t done. If anyone else has done it then they put a finger down. Last person with fingers up wins.”

 

“What do they win?”

 

“Well, right now? Nothing. Maybe a candy bar if we find one eventually?” 

 

“Ooh!” Pidge yelled excitedly, “I’m gonna destroy you guys!”

 

“I’d like to see you try, Shorty.” Lance grinned, “Okay. Fingers up. Pidge, you go first.” 

 

“Bad choice. First one- never have I ever failed a test.”

 

Keith and Lance both put down a finger.

 

“That’s not fair!” Lance pouted.

 

“How is it not fair? It’s perfectly fair.”

 

“Alright,” Lance started, “Never have I ever stayed up all night  _ studying _ for a test.” 

 

Both Pidge and Keith put a finger down, the woman looking more proud than ashamed. Next was Keith’s turn.

 

“Never have I ever lied to my parents about where I was going.”

 

The other two players put down a finger. 

 

“That’s impossible!”

 

“There’s no way you haven’t done that.”

 

“Yes there is. I was an orphan.” Keith said flatly.

 

They were quiet until Pidge spoke to take her turn, clearing up the awkward silence. “Ooh, I got it! Never have I ever had a girlfriend!”

 

Only Lance put a finger down.

 

“Keith? You haven’t had a girlfriend?”

 

“No. Not interested.”

 

Lance laughed, “You probably couldn’t get one.”

 

“I didn’t want one because I didn’t think my boyfriend would like that much and after  _ that _ I was too busy trying to track down my best friend that had been kidnapped right in front of me. So, I guess you could say I was a  _ bit _ busy.”

 

That shut Lance up, he quickly looked away.

 

“Aww, I thought thought I had that one…” Pidge frowned, “What’s your boyfriend like?” 

 

“We broke up after Shiro went missing because I never had time for him anymore. He was one of the best pilots though, we always fought for the top spot, that’s how we met. Can we get back to the game?”

 

“Sure. It’s Lance’s turn. Lance?”

 

“Huh?” He looked back up, “Oh, my turn?... Never have I ever- um…. Slept in everyday clothes before all of this happened?”

 

“Before the zombies?”

 

“Yeah. If it was after then we would all have to put a finger down.”

 

Pidge and Keith lost a point, then it was Keith’s turn again.

 

“Never have I ever tried a really bad pick-up line on someone.” 

 

Lance furrowed his eyebrows, “Okay, now I feel like you’re just targeting me.”

 

“Put your finger down.”

 

“I have  _ never _ used a bad pick-up line. I will have you know that all of my pick-up lines are top grade.”

 

“I can tell that you’re lying. Finger down.”

 

Lance pouted, flipping Keith off before he finally accepted defeat and crossed his arms. Pidge laughed, “Nice work, but now I can get you!”

 

“Oh no, whatever will I do?” Keith smiled.

 

“Never have I ever ridden on a motorcycle!”

 

Keith put his last finger down, “You win. You’re truly the best at this game, Pidge.”

 

Pidge shot up from her seat on the ground and pumped her fists, “Yeah I am! I get a candy bar!” 

 

“ _ If _ we find one. Don’t get your hopes up too high.”

 

“Hey, I have to have something to look forward to besides being cooped up in this camp and cleaning all day.”

 

“He let you win.” Lance grumbled.

 

“And you let yourself lose, Lancey Boy!” She exclaimed, unnaturally excited by the thought of winning a candy bar.

 

Keith smiled and for the first time in a while he wasn’t lonely anymore. He was thankful to have people around him, living and breathing, smiling and laughing, it was relieving. He wanted to get to know them, despite the deep gut feeling that something was going to go wrong, but he didn’t know exactly  _ how _ . So, he tried the only way he knew.

  
  


“Can we play that game again? I like it.”

  
  
  
  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry this took so long! I've been working on my singer au, dealing with writer's block, and I'm just now getting over a sickness. :(
> 
> tumblr: ash-alert  
> instagram: ash_alert


	10. 10- Window Shopping

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hunk and Allura go on a supply run.

_ May 6th, 20XX, 11:34am _

  
  


“Are you sure this is a good idea?”

 

“Hunk, is it? On these supply runs we tend to stay silent as to not get the attention of any predators.”

 

“Yeah, that’s fine and all, but why are we going so far away from camp?”

 

“Because the closer the buildings are to camp the less supplies there are to take we’ve already searched them.”

 

“I guess that makes sense, but-”

 

“Please stop talking. We need to focus.”

 

Hunk nodded. Only God knew how long they’d been traveling and most of the time he’d just been stuck in his own thoughts. Most were about Lance, Pidge, and Keith and how they were doing and, surprisingly, very few of his thoughts involved the subject of dying horribly during this supply run and never being able to see his family again.

 

He took out a piece of paper and looked it over once again.

 

 

  * __Any food__


  * _Water (bottles or gallons) (filters???)_


  * _Pain medication_


  * _Antibiotics_


  * _Needles_


  * _Thread_


  * _Rubbing Alcohol_


  * _Drinking Alcohol_


  * _Soap_


  * _Fresh meat_


  * _Any clothes_



 

 

 

  * __Canned Pears__



 

  
  


It seemed like they were desperate for medical supplies. He wondered why. No one was so badly hurt so it wasn’t like anyone desperately needed it, but it was probably just a precaution. 

 

“Psst! Hunk, up ahead.” Allura alerted. 

 

It looked like smoke. 

 

“Let’s go this way. There’s a small grocery store about 10 miles away, maybe it wasn’t raided.” Allura pointed away from the fire.

 

“But shouldn’t we go to the fire to see if anyone is hurt?” 

 

“No one is hurt. It’s white smoke, they’re probably just burning twigs or grass.”

 

Hunk new that she was right, but it still felt wrong. What if those people were starving and trying to set up a smoke signal? What if someone was sick and they needed medicine? What if-

 

“Hunk, let’s go.” Allura’s voice snapped him back to reality.

 

“Right. Sorry…”

  
  
  


-xxx-

  
  


The shelves were empty. Completely. Empty. Dust everywhere, a lot of spiders and bugs, but other than that- pretty much nothing. 

 

Hunk and Allura search every aisle looking for anything. There was a soda can in the floor of aisle five, a box of stickers in aisle seven, and a some coloring pencils in aisle seven as well. (Allura said the pencils were useless, but he picked them up anyway, Pidge would like them.) The only food item they found was a candy bar, that had long since expired.

 

“Hey, Allura, who do you think raided this place?” 

 

“I don’t know. Anyone and everyone? I kept telling Shiro we should’ve moved West, those people didn’t have much time to prepare so there should be more supplies.”

 

“That seems like a great idea! There would be boats and food and… maybe we could see some movie stars! I mean, they’d probably be all dead and gross, but still.”

 

Allura smiled, “Well, I’m glad  _ you _ agree with me. You seem like the smartest of your group.”

 

“I just want to get home, really.” 

 

“Don’t we all. Where’s your home?”

 

Hunk chuckled sadly, “About 5,000 miles away in the middle of the ocean.”

 

“Wow… That would be a long journey…”

 

“It will be, but I’m going to make it. I need to know they’re okay.” He looked up at her, “Where is yours?”

 

“Any safe place I can find. My mother is gone…”

 

“I’m so sorry… What about your father?”

 

“He’s-” She paused, “He’s okay. I think. He is going to be.”

 

“I hope he is.”

 

“Thank you. We should search the buildings around here.”

 

Allura opened the front door only to hear shambled footsteps coming towards them. Hunk, not aware of the noise, made it all the way outside before seeing it. A single zombie. He took out his weapon-  it was just one of them, it wouldn’t be a big problem. 

 

Until it started running. 

 

Allura pulled him back inside, slamming the door shut and locking it right. The corpse groaned and clawed at the glass, but it soon stopped after a few seconds. It seemed to stare right into Hunk’s eyes, then again into Allura’s.

 

“A-Allura?.. Why is it looking at us... like that?”

 

“Sshhh…” She whispered.

 

The corpse turned its gaze to the door, hitting the glass once, then looking at them again. It started to pound on the door and the glass began to crack.

 

“Oh no…” Allura whimpered, “Hunk, we have to block that door!” She screamed and ran to the nearest shelf. Hunk followed her instructions without hesitation, but by the time the shelf was halfway to the door, the glass cracked.

 

The corpse tried to grab at both of them, but upon realizing it couldn’t reach, started breaking the glass again.

 

“Allura, what is with that thing?!” Hunk screamed.

 

“I think it’s one of the intelligent ones Shiro told us about!”

 

“ _ Us?! _ He didn’t tell  _ us _ !”

 

“Coran and I! Not you!”

 

“Well, I’m in your group now, I’d like to be informed about these things that could kill me!”

 

“Calm down!” She took a deep breath, “We have to find another way out of here.” 

 

“Is there a back door?” 

 

“There has to be! Stay here while I go look!”

 

“Wait-!”  

 

Allura ran off before he could finish his sentence. Hunk turned around quickly. He looked for any weak spots the zombie could use to get in, and tried to fix them to the best of his ability. 

 

The noises from the zombie had stopped. No shattering glass. No groaning. Silence.

 

Hunk backed up from the door, his heart pounded in his chest. What was he supposed to do in this situation? If the zombie was more intelligent than average, does that mean it knew that they had locked the door up too tight? Did it leave? 

  
  


Did it go for Allura?

  
  


“Allura!!!” Hunk yelled and ran towards the back of the store and smashed open the back exit. He had been right- it went for her.

 

It sat on top of her, holding her mouth with its decaying, bloody hand, trying to keep her quiet. Hunk wasted no time kicking the corpse off of her and jamming his knife into its head, only letting it go when he was sure it would not come back.

 

Allura sat up and wiped her mouth on her pant leg in vain, as she threw up only seconds after. She was still shaking and crying by the time Hunk made it over to her. 

 

“Allura, are you okay now? Did it get you?” He sat down next to her, staring with worry.

 

“N-... I’m fine. No bi- bites…”

 

“Thank God... I think we should get back to the base.”

 

“But- But we don’t have anything to bring back…” She sniffled.

 

“It’s okay. They’ll understand. We almost lost  _ you _ .”

 

“Yeah… Let’s go…”

 

The whole ride back to the base, Allura didn’t stop talking. Her scrambled, fast paced sentences came out as a blur, but Hunk didn’t mind. She was nervous and scared, he couldn’t blame her for talking his head off. As long as it helped her cope. She only stopped when the fence came into view, they were  _ finally  _ safe.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 10th chapter means- ....Nothing really special,,, I'm sorry there's only 1,193 words. :(   
> College started again and I've been s t r e s s e d . I'm literally posting this in class, it's 8:41pm.


	11. 11- The Stressed Princess

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hunk and Keith come back from a supply run with a hurt stranger. Allura is stressed and sleep deprived.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ash is back at it again, posting in the middle of class as per usual. Sorry if there are any typos, I'm an exhausted college student and I just skimmed it.

_ May 7th, 20XX, 9:23am _

 

The next meeting they had, Hunk made sure to ask about the zombie that had attacked them. When Shiro was made to explain the ‘new’ zombie type,  _ no one _ was happy. Hunk was upset no one told him beforehand. Everyone else was more concerned with how this breed of dead could affect the safety. Shiro was sure to assure them, however, that they were extremely rare and he had only ever encountered a single one, which had been in the testing laboratories.

 

So, at least that was good?

 

There was always the bad side of things to think about though. The supply run has been pretty much useless and they had nothing to show for it- they would have to go on another one. 

 

They went through their options again.

 

Coran’s ankle still wasn’t fully healed, he couldn’t run without being in pain.

Pidge had seemingly recovered from her concussion, but they were going to give it a few days before they put her to work, just in case.

Lance’s arm was still broken, they were making him take calcium pills to make it heal faster, but he was in no shape to leave base.

Shiro was fine to go, but he’d be considered last.

 

So, they were left with Hunk, Allura, and Keith. Allura volunteered again, but after what happened last time, she was still shaken up. She had to stay. 

 

It was only Hunk and Keith left. They took off as soon as the group decided it would be them to go. 

 

-xxx-

 

“So, what happened last time?”

 

“There was this weird zombie. It look average I guess, but it started running at us. Then when we got back in the building it just… stared at us through the glass. Then it started trying to break the door down…”

 

“How’d it get Allura?”

 

“She went to the back to find another exit, but it heard her or sensed it or something. It ran around back and attacked her.”

 

Keith frowned, “At least she wasn’t bitten.”

 

“She’s really shaken up though.”

 

“That’s better than being dead sometimes.” 

 

“What do you mean sometimes?”

 

“It just is. We’re going to Beaver, right? I’m pretty sure there’s a military base there.”

 

“We don’t need guns, we need food.”

 

“Priorities.” He sighed, “Okay.”

  
  
  
  


_ May 7th, 20XX, 3:48pm _

 

Once they arrived in the city it didn’t take long to fill up their bags. The problem was that the city had an estimated population of 3,500 and apparently not one of them went on vacation or tried to escape. Hunk and Keith had to sneak around the city carefully, there was no main road that wasn’t filled with the dead.

 

But they were out now. There were heading because to base. 

 

“Okay, we got plenty of water from the back of that truck. We got a few bottles of ibuprofen, more calcium for Lance, soap bars, and some rubbing alcohol. And all the canned food we got will probably last us a year!”

 

“A few months at most.”

 

“Well,” Hunk frowned, “We got food and that’s all that matters.”

 

“Mhm.” Keith suddenly had a bottle of something pressed to his lips. 

 

“Keith, what do you have?”

 

It took him a few seconds to answer, “Jack.” 

 

“Jack?” 

 

“Jack.” He repeated and held it out to his partner.

 

“Are… Are you really drinking alcohol right now?” 

 

“Are you really not accepting it? This is Tennessee whiskey, Hunk.”

 

“That’s exactly what I’m doing.”

 

“Alright. Suit yourself.” He smiled and closed the bottle off, gently placing it in a holder on his belt. 

 

“I can’t believe you’re drinking before we’ve gotten to safety.”

 

“I just took a little sip. I’m not getting drunk.” He rolled his eyes.

 

“You better not b-“

 

“HELP!” 

 

A scream shook them from their conversation. A strange man ran towards them, holding his bleeding shoulder. Keith immediately held his sword out, warning him not to come any closer. 

 

“He’s hurt, Dude! Put your sword down!”

 

Keith jumped down from his horse and checked the man for bites. After assuring the man was clear, he was hoisted onto a Hunk’s horse and they set off for the base once again, Hunk sloppily bandaging the man’s shoulder on the way.

 

-xxx-

 

As soon as they entered the gates, the group surrounded them, lifting the man and setting him on the nearest picnic table. Coran went to work caring for the wound. Allura went to work asking questions.

 

“ _ Another _ person?” 

 

“He ran up to us bleeding!” Hunk argued, “What were we supposed to do? We made sure he wasn’t bitten.”

 

“Thank you, thank you… I could have died out there…” The man smiled, sweat covered his dark skin.

 

Allura glared at him. “Where did you come from?”

 

“I- I had a group. We set up in Puig, but… we were overrun. The zombies attacked us. They were too strong…” 

 

“Zombies?” Lance questioned, “How did the zombies do that to your arm? It looks more like a stab than anything.”

 

The man hesitated. “I ran into one of our defense spikes in all of the commotion. It was my own fault.”

 

“Well, don’t worry about that.” Coran assured, “We’ll take care of you for now. Should only be a month or two before you heal.“

 

“No, no, no! I’ll be fine after a week. I have to search for any survivors.”

 

“Are you sure? We could help you.”

 

“That’s fine. I just need to get back on my feet and I’ll leave.” The man smiled.

 

“Alright. We’ll take care of you until then.” 

 

Allura kept telling herself it was only a week, but she couldn’t shake the feeling that there was something untrustworthy about the man. She took the bags that had been brought back to the storage room and set them in the corner. She was too tired to sort everything out and take count, so she went to bed- it was Shiro’s turn to keep watch anyway.

  
  


_ May 7th, 20XX, 10:30pm _

 

She tossed and turned. The recurring face of the zombie that attacked her haunted her nightmares. No matter what she did, she couldn’t sleep. Some fresh air would probably help calm her mind.

 

The wooden floor creaked with every step she took, but thankful Coran was a heavy sleeper. She slipped out the door and quietly shut it, leaning on the railing and sighed. Meditation was never something Allura did, but it sounded nice with all that had gone on recently. 

 

Right before she closed her eyes she saw light- a small beam from inside of the storage section of the restaurant.

 

“I knew we shouldn’t have trusted him!” Allura growled and ran towards the building. She kicked the door open. Time ran into a blur as she took him down, kicking him in the ribs and picking him up by the collar. His flashlight clattered to the floor, along with the bag he brought in.

 

“What are you doing in here?!”

 

“I needed-!”

 

Her eyes widened, “Keith?”

 

“Allura, listen, I just-”

 

“Shiro spoke the world of you and now you’re stealing?!”

 

“No!” He struggled to get out of her grip.

 

“Shut up! I don’t want to hear it!” Allura slung him out the door and into the dirt, sending the bag he took after him, “So, what was so important that you betrayed us for?! Show me!”

 

If they hadn’t woken everyone up already, they definitely had now. Shiro ran over from his position at the fence, “What’s going on? Keith, are you okay?”

 

“He was stealing from us!”

 

“Allura, breathe for a minute, calm down…” Shiro set a hand on her shoulder, “He didn’t steal anything.”

 

“Yes he did! In the backpack!”

 

Keith frowned, standing up and unzipping the bag.

 

“Keith, you don’t have to do that. I can tell her in private.” Shiro ushered. 

 

“No, it’s fine.” He pulled out a few square shaped wrappers and showed them to her. 

 

“Wh- Why do you need those?” She furrowed her brows.

 

“Because I couldn’t find any tampons and I’m tired of using old toilet paper. I found some pads while we were out today and never got the chance to take any in private.”

 

Allura sighed and held her head in her hands, “I’m so sorry… I’m just… I thought you were…”

 

“You’re stressed out, I get it. I forgive you.”

 

“I’m going to go try to sleep again. Goodnight.” She walked away, not even attempting to smile at them. She had been through a lot in the last few days and it felt as if she were loosing her head. The blue eyed girl, went to bed, ignoring the endless questions coming from Coran.

 

“You okay?” Shiro asked.

 

“Well, I’m not dying. Thanks for asking?” Keith smiled.

 

“You just look a little paler than usual.”

 

“Probably just lack of vitamins. I haven’t been eating right since you went missing.”

 

“Well, I’m here now and we’re together, start eating right. You  _ actually  _ have a few friends now too, eat for them.”

 

“ _ Shiro _ .” He said in a warning tone.

 

The older man only laughed, “I have to get back to my post. Sweet dreams.”

 

“I would say you too, but…”

 

“Ha. Ha. Don’t rub it in.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you're wondering why the hurt man doesn't have a name, it's because the Voltron crew never actually gave him a name and I'm tip-toeing around giving him a non-canon name. He was the leader of the Puigians in canon. ;o
> 
> I also accidentally got my mom hooked on a zombie show. She hates zombies, but Z Nation is funny and she loves Murphy.
> 
> Tumblr: ash-alert  
> Instagram: ash_alert


	12. 12- Trade Mistakes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bonding and a trade gone wrong.

_ May 12th, 20XX, 7:00pm _

 

A few days later, the man that they had let stay suddenly left during the night. He didn’t take anything, he didn’t hurt anyone, he just left. Pidge worried about him, wondered if he would be okay out in the world by himself, but there was nothing they could do for him now. It was his choice to leave. 

 

Hunk joined in on the trust-building games. It wasn’t that he  _ needed  _ to, Hunk was easy to trust, but he felt a bit left out. They had branched out from only trust based things to party games that Lance had learned from college. Would You Rather got boring pretty quickly, no one was feeling particularly creative today. So, they tried something that was never boring.

 

“Hunk, truth or dare?”

 

“Truth.”

 

“Have you ever had a crush on a teacher or professor?” Lance asked.

 

“No, that’s weird, Dude!”

 

“No it isn’t! Did you  _ see  _ Professor Warren? She was the hottest woman on campus!”

 

“She was pretty attractive, Hunk. You can’t deny that.” Pidge added.

 

“I have no idea who you all are talking about.”

 

“Oh. Sorry, Keith. No more college related ones.”

 

“It’s your turn!”

 

They kept playing for more than an hour. They laughed, Lance was dared to strip down to his underwear and jump into the lake at one point, and the group was surprised to hear that Hunk had once gotten so drunk he passed out. However, it wasn’t long until Coran had come over to wreck their fun and tell them it was time for everyone to go to bed. 

 

The group said their goodnights and sweet dreams and drifted off to their cabins, except for Pidge and Lance- it was their turn to stand guard tonight. It was originally only Lance’s, but since his arm still wasn’t fully healed, Pidge offered to stay with him in case something happened. 

 

They both sat down in their chairs at the entrance to the camp, keeping their eyes out for any movement. Lance tapped his foot absentmindedly, annoying Pidge to no end, but she couldn’t be bothered to stop him, it was just a nervous tick after all. 

 

“Why are you so anxious? I’m here so you don’t get hurt.”

 

“Just- I keep thinking about those lights I saw the other day across the lake.”

 

“I thought we agreed that you were just seeing things?”

 

“We did,” He frowned, “But I saw them again earlier. They were only visible for a minute or two, but they were there.”

 

“Maybe there’s someone living over there. It’s not a problem.”

 

“Maybe not… I’m just worried, you know?”

 

“Wait- do you here something?”

 

“Yeah, it kinda sounds like a vehicle?”

 

“A truck?”

 

A low rumbling in the distance, barely audible at first, but it became louder as the seconds ticked by. 

 

“Who on Earth has working a truck?” Lance asked, standing up.

 

“I don’t know, but it sounds like they’re coming this way.”

 

They were quiet as the high-beam headlights came into view. The box truck backed into the road, only stopping inches away from their chairs. A woman with vitiligo and a long ponytail jumped out of the driver’s seat, taking one look at them and then nodding to whoever else was in the truck. She walked over to them.

 

“What are you doing her?” 

 

“Who are you?” Pidge gripped the knife Keith had given her tightly.

 

“We mean no harm.” The woman said in a sweet voice and smiling, “My name is Ezor.” She held out her hand. Pidge shook her hand warily. Lance, in comparison, kissed Ezor’s hand, and jumped at the opportunity to say something about how beautiful she was.

 

“Well, aren’t you a charmer?” She giggled, “But I’m here for business. My friends and I gather supplies, weapons and medicine, from abandoned cities and towns and trade them for food.”

 

“I don’t know, we’re not in charge of that stuff. I can go get our leader though.” Pidge offered.

 

“Can I go meet them? I’d prefer not being out here in the open.”

 

“Sure. Follow me. Lance, stay on guard incase something happens.”

 

“Alright.” He smiled and placed a hand on the pistol he had been lended.

 

Pidge lead Ezor into camp. Lance kept an eye on the outside, but with his vision mostly obscured by a box truck, he was forced to walk from one side to the other repeatedly to make sure that they were clear. The passenger door opened and a man stepped out.

 

“Hey, I thought it was just her!” Lance yelled.

 

The man looked over, his light hair standing out against his dark skin, “I am only here to ensure her safety. I won’t come in, I’m just stretching my legs.”

 

“Oh… Okay.” 

 

The other stranger smiled and walked over to him, “So, your name is Lance? I’ve never heard that before.”

 

“I’ve never heard ‘Ezor’ before either. What’s your name?” He crossed his arms and looked up to the taller man.

 

“Lotor.” He grinned impishly.

 

Lance tensed up, eyes widening, “Wait-” He paused.

 

“What? You haven’t heard of me-  _ have you? _ ”

 

Without hesitation he turned and screamed, “ALLURA!!!”

 

Behind him, he heard a metallic squeaking and a loud bang, followed by snarling and groaning. He didn’t want to look back. He knew what was coming. It had been a trap. He was going to die here.

 

He didn’t want to look back. 

 

Ezor came into view from behind a cabin, running towards him and knocking him over onto the ground on her way back into the truck. 

 

He looked back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the cliffhanger. I had to split the chapter and leave it on a cliffhanger because I haven't posted anything in a while. :) 
> 
> tumblr: ash-alert  
> instagram: ash_alert  
> (PS: If you enjoy the ship James x Keith- I made a discord for them called JeithCentral. More info on my tumblr.)


	13. 13- Unlucky

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Trigger warnings: Blood, gore, hints at thoughts of suicide.
> 
> The attack is here.

_ May 12th, 20XX, 10:00pm _

 

There were no weapons, there were no medicine, nothing in the back of the truck except about twenty flesh eating corpses- now heading straight towards Lance. He shakily stood up grabbing his gun and haphazardly shot at a few before turning and running away. He couldn’t hit any of them effectively if he was that close.

 

Coran, Shiro, and Allura had already made there way to the entrance to start dealing with the zombies. The others were nowhere to be found. What if they were in trouble too? Lance froze, gunshots surrounded his senses and it seemed everything was slower than before.

 

_ ‘What if they don’t even know about the truck?’ _ He worried.

 

Five zombies heading for Shiro, three towards Coran, four towards Allura, and the rest were scattering throughout the camp. Lance had to help them. He raised his gun slowly, taking deep breaths. He whistled, catching a few of the corpses’ attentions, he lead them away from Shiro- at least that was good. Lance couldn’t remember what happened in the minute following. It was hard to keep track. 

 

Gunshots. 

 

A zombies running at him.

 

Blood. 

 

Once he returned to his senses, he saw Coran at his side, helping him up, “Are you alright?”

 

“Yeah. No bites.” He smiled.

 

“Good. Let’s go get rid of the rest of them.” Coran panted, “They’re heading towards the cabins.”

 

The two men head towards the remaining zombies. Lance reloaded his pistol as he ran, he didn’t want to be caught on an empty clip, after all.

  
  
  


_ May 12th, 20XX, 10:20pm _

 

The group gathered in front of the entrance after they were sure that all of the walkers were taken care of. 

 

“Is everyone alright?”

 

“Other than scared for the rest of our lives, I think so.”

 

Lance laughed nervously, “Good thing there are seven of us. I don’t think we could’ve done it alone.” He quickly shook off his scared demeanor and grinned, “Did you see how many I killed though?”

 

“We’re lucky to have you here.” Shiro smiled and looked to his right, only to find Coran. His smile faded, “Where’s Keith? He’s always at my right side.”

 

Hunk frowned, “He went into the cabin across from me and said he was going to go out the back door to come help.”

 

“Which cabin? Maybe he’s hiding and waiting for someone to come get him?”

 

“I think it was 608.”

 

Allura and Coran shared a dreadful look. 

 

“Coran and I will go get hi-” She tried to offer, but the group had already gone.

 

Their secret was about to come out.

 

-xxx-

  
  


Lance flicked his flashlight on, running beside Shiro. He wasn’t really worried to begin with. Keith was capable of protecting himself, everyone one the team knew that, but the negative emotion that Shiro was emitting was making him worry. 

 

“Wait!” Allura yelled.

 

Everyone except Lance stopped.

 

“Lance, we need to tell you all something! I need to go in there first!”

 

He huffed a small laugh as he reached for the door handle, “It’s just a cabin.”

 

“My father is in there!”

 

Lance turned and looked at her.

 

“Why did you tell us there was another person?”

 

“Yes,  _ Allura _ ,” Shiro scowled, “ _ Why _ didn’t you tell us?”

 

“Wait, you didn’t know?” Pidge asked him.

 

“I didn’t want you to hurt him…” Allura pushed a strand of hair behind her ear.

 

“Why on Earth would we hurt-”

 

“Because he’s sick. I was letting him stay in there until I found someone to help. So far, there’s been nothing.”

 

“What does he have?” Hunk asked softly, “My mom was a nurse, maybe I can help some.”

 

Allura avoided the group’s gaze, not saying anything more. Coran put an arm around her and held her close.

 

“You aren’t telling us everything.” Pidge frowned and made her way to the door.

 

“Pidge!” Coran tried to stop her, but her hand was already turning the door knob.

 

Only a single candle was lit.  

 

“Lance, get your flashlight in here! I can’t see anything!”

 

“Okay, I’m comin’. Why is it so-...”

 

Tears ran down Pidge’s face.

 

“Pidge? Lance? You two okay?” Shiro asked as he walked inside. Not even seconds later, he was running over to a bloodied body leaned up against a wall.

 

“Keith?!” 

  
  
  


_ May 12th, 20XX, 10:05pm _

 

As soon as he saw the first zombie Keith ran at it with his knife, killing it swiftly. However, more and more of them started to appear. He thought he could handle them, but he was wrong. There was nothing he could do but run. Hunk, who was across the road on the porch of a cabin, was helping to the best of his ability, but there was only so much he could do with a small pistol.

 

“Hunk, get inside the house! I’ll sneak out the back door and come get you!” 

 

“Okay, be careful!”

 

Keith disappeared inside the other cabin.

  
  


Cabin 608.

  
  


Darkness surrounded him. There were no lit candles, no moonlight windows, only complete and utter darkness. He felt his way around- trying to find anything he could use as a light source. 

 

He finally found a lighter on a desk.

 

After flipping it on, he saw a candle on the desk, he lighted it to get a little more visibility. He had never liked fire, but this was an exception he had to make.

 

His first priority was to get to Hunk. A back door would be preferable, but if he had to, he could crawl out one of the windows- as long as he didn’t see any zombies around, either was fine.  A low growl emitted from somewhere outside the building behind him. He took note of it, knowing not to go that way. 

 

Until he heard a floorboard creak.

 

He turned, but it was too late. A sharp pain spread throughout his right shoulder- a scream ripping through his throat as blood gushed from the site.

 

Keith pushed the monster away from himself, stumbling to catch his balance. His vision was blurred by tears, but he knew the zombie was coming for him again. He gripped his knife tightly in his left hand, swinging haphazardly. 

 

Until the blade sank into the zombie’s head.

 

He slid down the walk, tears streaming down his face and his hand absentmindedly trying to stop the bleeding. He couldn't breathe. He couldn’t breathe. He couldn’t breathe. Keith tried to process it all, and the tears only multiplied when he truly realized what had happened. 

 

He had been bitten.

 

What was he going to do now?

 

Though his consciousness flickered in and out, he thought to himself,  _ ‘I can’t let myself hurt the others. I can’t bring them down with me when I turn...’ _

 

_ ‘And I can’t turn if I-’ _

 

He blacked out.

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Is he weak enough for you now?
> 
>  
> 
> Tumblr: ash-alert  
> Instagram&Twitter: ash_alert


	14. 14- The Waiting Game

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There’s a choice to make.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger warnings: mentions of suicide/suicidal thoughts, unsafe medication use, scars, blood, cursing, mentions of motorcycle accidents, angst.   
> But if you aren’t okay with angst, what are you doing this far in the story?

_ May 12th, 20XX, 10:35pm _

 

Keith’s eyes slowly opened. He rapidly blinked, trying to make some sense of the blur of orange that he was seeing. There were people yelling, he knew that, but he couldn’t make out the words they spoke. He didn’t understand anything. What had happened?

 

“He’s awake!” 

 

Coran was leaning over him. Keith tried to question, but small, quivering arms wrapped him before he could even open his mouth..

 

“Please don’t d- don’t do this…” She cried. 

 

_ ‘What?..’ _

 

“Pidge, I have to clean the wound, you have to move.” Coran said somberly.

 

It all rushed back to him. The cabin. The zombie…

  
  


The bite.

 

Keith’s eyes widened, “Coran, let me go!” He panicked, trying to escape from their grasps, only hurting himself more in the process.

 

“Calm down! Shiro! We need help!”

 

Coran and Pidge tried to hold Keith down to the best of their ability, but he broke free. He tumbled onto the floor, landing on his shoulder and screaming in pain. In any other situation, Pidge would have laughed. 

 

He was pulled into someone’s lap, the touch careful but unyielding “Keith, what happened?” Shiro calmly asked, reapplying the bandages.

 

“Get away! I’m bit, I can’t hurt you! I won’t let myself be a danger!”

 

“It’s okay. We’re going to figure this out. Pidge, stay here with him, I’ll get the others to help. Coran, Allura, and I need to talk to you.” He said sadly.

 

Pidge only nodded.

 

-xxx-

 

“We have to kill him.” 

 

“Please, Allura, there must be some other way, we can’t just do that to a friend.” 

 

“I wish there was, believe me. He’s a great asset to the group, but with this bite he could turn at any minute.”

 

“We just fought a truck of zombies, we can handle him if he turns.” Coran kept his voice quiet, but still stern. Their argument had been going on for a few minutes now. Coran was against killing while Allura was for it, their stances would not change.

 

“ _ When _ he turns.”

 

It was up to Shiro to be the tiebreaker. He was the judge and jury on his best friend’s trial-

 

And possibly the executioner.

 

Images of the testing facility rushed through his head. He new as well as anyone alive that there was no stopping a bite unless it was amputated. However, in this case, that wasn’t possible. The bite was on the trapezius, close enough to his brain that it was only a matter of hours before the disease symptoms would set in. He would get 12 hours to live if he was lucky.

 

Keith was going to turn whether they liked it or not.

 

It was a matter of letting him live until then or putting him out of his misery. It was clear what Keith wanted and Shiro knew it would be for the better, but he couldn’t come to terms with it.

 

-xxx-

 

Hunk and Lance sat in front of Keith, neither saying anything as they were scared to break the silence. Pidge, on the other hand, wasn’t. If these were her last hours with her friend, she was going to at least get him to smile. 

 

“Hey, Keith, I have a scar where you do! On your lower arm!”

 

He looked at her and raised an eyebrow.

 

“Yeah! My brother and I went swimming and I fell, cut myself on a picnic table.” She smiled and held her arm out, tracing the mark with her finger, “I also have one on my foot because I accidentally stepped on a big glass clock. I was little though so it’s healed a bunch.”

 

“You stepped on… a clock?” The smallest smile played on his lips.

 

“Yep. It was pink and sparkly, I think my parents were building a bookshelf when it happened, but it was such a long time ago, I’m not sure.”

 

Hunk laughed, “I have a scar on my hand from touching the oven trays I didn’t think were hot. My mom freaked out so much.”

 

“How did you not know the oven was hot?”

 

“Well, we had turned it off awhile before and I thought it was okay to touch.” He rubbed the back of his neck.

 

“Do you have any, Lance?” Keith asked.

 

“I don’t think so?” He thought for a minute, “Actually I think the glass from the car wreck gave me a few small ones, but other than that, no.”

 

“Well, that’s boring.” 

 

“Hey! Ruining your skin isn’t exciting either!”

 

“Scars don’t ruin you, they give you more personality.”

 

“So what personality traits  do yours portray, other than being reckless?” Lance frowned.

 

“Well, the one on my leg is from the motorcycle accident when I was trying to save Shiro. The one on my arm I got in a fight with my ex’s ex and he tried to stab me. The one on my waist is… I actually don’t remember, but it was probably another fight. The two on my chest are from my mastectomy. The one on my hand is when a couple pilots and I got drunk and tried to play the knife game. I also have one on my forehead, but it is barely visible, it’s from a dog bite that almost popped my eye open. I think that the major ones.”

 

The other three stared at him.  

 

“The dog tried to  _ eat _ your  _ eyeball _ ?”

 

“What’s a mastectomy?”

 

“Only the  _ major _ ones?”

 

“Yeah. To be fair, the dog was abused in the past and I knew that, I tried to get down on its level to appear less threatening, but I got too close and it bit me. It wasn’t the dog’s fault. A mastectomy is where they remove someone’s breasts- That hospital stay was a living Hell.”

 

“Wait a minute, you’re-”

 

“I’m not a girl if that’s what you’re going to say.”

 

“No. You’re trans too?” Pidge asked.

 

If Lance and Hunk weren’t confused before, they definitely were now.

 

Keith stared at her in disbelief, ”Yeah… Um… Too?” 

 

Pidge laughed, “Too.”

 

“Wait, what’s happening?” Lance asked.

 

“We were bonding, Lance,” Pidge said giddily.

 

There was a knock on the doorframe. The air suddenly became tense. 

 

“We’ve come to a decision…” Allura said cautiously, “Keith, who would you like to do it? Shiro?”

 

Keith’s eyes started to sting , he looked down quickly. He knew this was for the best, but hearing her say that still hurt more than any bite ever could.

 

“I want-”

 

“Are you serious?! We can’t just kill him!” Lance stood up.

 

“It’s fine, Lance…”

 

“No it isn’t! The only symptom you have so far is faintness, you could be okay!”

 

“You’ve watched too many movies.” Allura said. “This is in everyone’s best interest.”

 

“Give us until noon.” Pidge spoke up.

 

“What?”

 

“We give it until noon tomorrow. If he turns by then, we can go with your plan, but we can’t give up.”

 

“That isn’t how this works…”

 

“And having only three people decide a group member's fate isn’t how it works either,  _ Princess _ . Lance and I will watch over him and take care of him when or if he turns.”

 

“He’s  _ going _ to turn. This isn’t safe, we could lose all three of you!”

 

“That’s a risk we’re willing to take.” Lance stood his ground. Staying the night wasn’t exactly what he was expecting, but he knew Allura would  _ never _ agree if it was only Pidge watching over him alone. 

 

Allura gave them a hesitant look before sighing and straightening herself up. “On the condition that he is tied to the something, one wrist at the least, and no one is left alone with him.”

 

Keith wanted to remind her that he was in the room, but he understood where she was coming from.

 

“And… I need to apologize for this.”

 

“Why? It’s not your fault I got myself hurt.”

 

“No, it isn’t, but it  _ is _ my fault the… zombie… was there in the first place. Coran and I thought it would help the healing if we could just keep him close…”

 

“What? You mean you knew him? You knew he was in there?” Hunk asked.

 

“Yes. He was my father. I tried to keep you out of there by putting it in the rules to stay away, but when the attack happened… I know you had no choice. He was originally tied to the wall, but his arm decayed so much that it must have freed him. That’s how he got to you.”

 

He was quiet for a few seconds.

 

“It’s okay, Allura.”

 

Tears dripped down her face, “I got you killed, Keith… And you’re telling me it’s okay?”

 

“You can’t change the past. I don’t blame you. If I had parents I’d probably try to keep them close too… So,  _ yes _ , it’s okay.”

 

“Oh…” 

 

He gripped the bandages on his shoulder and winced, “Can I have my shirt back though?”

 

“Of course.” Allura smiled politely, “Lance, where did you put it?” 

 

“I put it… I…” He stammered,” I actually don’t remember. On the main counter maybe?” He furrowed his eyebrows in thought.

 

Keith sighed, “I’ll find it.”

 

“Maybe you should just put your jacket on. It’ll be easier to change the bandages when the time comes.”

 

“That’s… not a bad idea. I don’t I’ll need my bandages changed anymore though. Get the rope and let’s go.”

 

“Who’s cabin?”

 

“I don’t care.  _ Let’s just go.” _

  
  
  


_ May 13th, 20XX, 12:00am _

 

Pidge pulled gently at the rope, trying not to hurt Keith’s wrist as she tied it to the bed frame. 

 

He sighed, “Why are you two doing this?”

 

“Because we care about you and don’t want to see you die.”

 

“I’m going to die either way. If you really cared about me you’d give me a pistol with one bullet and let me go.”

 

“Don’t say that!”

 

“It would be easier for everyone.”

 

“No it wouldn’t!” 

 

“Keith, at least you won’t die alone or be butchered like a pig. That's why we’re doing this.” Lance crossed his arms and looked away.

 

Keith’s expression suddenly softened. He hadn’t thought about it in that perspective. 

 

“Oh… I thought you were just waiting for a miracle.”

 

Pidge smiled, “Well, if that happens, we’ll welcome it with open arms. For now let’s just play a game. Can you draw?”

 

“I haven’t in years.”

 

“Perfect.”

 

-xxx-

 

A few hours into playing any game they could think of and talking to distract him, the fever set in and fatigue set in. Keith could no longer keep his head up, and had to lay down.

 

“Are you okay? Are you in pain?”

 

“Clearly-” He inhaled deeply, “Clearly not... I don’t know. Coran gave me- three different pain pills and some kind of injection…”

 

“That’s… probably not safe…”

 

“I’m going to die anyway. Fuck it.”

 

Lance dampened a rag a gently placed it on Keith’s forehead. “I don’t know if that’s gonna help, but based on what my sister told me, it should. Do you have any siblings?”

 

“A lot of ‘em. Gabriel, Mala, Alana, Brian, Makaiya, Rokuro, Annis, Toby, Oliver, Harvey, Susie, Roberta, Danilo, Julián, Thomas-“

 

“Wait wait wait wait!” Lance interrupted.

 

“What?” 

 

“...how?”

 

“Foster care system. There’s a lot of us.” He sighed, “Well, probably not anymore, but you know what I mean. ‘Was.’”

 

“Oh, right. I remember you saying something about that.”

 

“I guess I’m the lucky one here. I only have Matt.” Pidge chuckled. 

 

“I’m- I’m sorry we didn’t find him, Pidge…” Keith said, sorrow dripping in his voice.

 

“It’s okay. He wasn’t there, but I know he’s alive. We’ll meet again one day.”

 

“How are you so optimistic?”

 

“I guess because my dad always taught me to be. Plus, Matt is pretty smart so he’s probably taken over a safe place and made robot butlers already.”

 

“I want a robot butler…” Lance pouted.

 

“Maybe he can give us one when we find him.” 

 

Lance and Pidge rambled on about what functions they wanted their robots to be capable of. Pidge wanted her butler to have flexible arms so they could play table tennis with it, but also so that it could kill zombies instead of her having to herself. Lance listed every function he could think of. He wanted it to be able to clean, cook, have a screen on it so he could watch television again, among a plethora of other things.

 

Keith just listened. 

 

Their voices weren’t the most relaxing to listen to, he’d admit, but he felt his conscious slipping anyway. A rush of panicked thoughts hit him.  _ ‘This is where I die. God, I don’t want to die. I don’t want to die. Who is going to shoot me? Pidge probably won’t be able to when the time comes, she’s too soft-hearted. Is Lance going to be the one to kill me?’  _

 

Keith could have swore he felt his heart stop. He was still scared-

 

But at least he wouldn’t die alone. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m so sorry these chapters are taking so long. College has been Hell- my advisors have not been helpful and they’ve misinformed me about so many things. I’m currently in the process of transferring to, what I’ve been told, is a better college. Hopefully things get better.
> 
> By the way: two of the scar stories are actually mine! The clock and the dog bite! :)
> 
> Tumblr: ash-alert  
> Twitter & Instagram: ash_alert


	15. 15- Miracle

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The unthinkable happens and the group talks about the future.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AZ= After Zombies  
> BZ= Before Zombies  
> 1AZ= One year before zombies

_ May 13th, 1AZ, 6:00am _

 

Allura, Coran, and Hunk gathered outside the morning after. They discussed what happened and what they could do to upgrade their defenses. Hunk suggested digging a trench around the fence like a ‘medieval castle,’ but Coran argued that it would be too much work and would take months to accomplish. They kept spitballing ideas, trying to come up with anything good, but to no avail.

 

“Even if we upgrade our defenses, he still knows we’re here.”

 

“No he doesn’t. For all he knows, we all died in the attack. If we pack up today, we can head North and never have to deal with him again.” Coran said.

 

“Wait, who is ‘he?’” 

 

“His name is Lotor. He and a few women were once part of our group. We had a rough few months a while back and they started doing bad things… they stole from and killed other survivors. We had to kick them out.”

 

“And now they have some kind of grudge because of that?”

 

“Yes. I never thought they would try to kill us though.”

 

“I agree then,” Hunk said, “We should move as quickly as possible.”

 

“What about the horses?”

 

“We either find a horse trailer and a truck or we have to leave them here.”

 

“Alright. Hunk and I will go out and look for one. Can you go check on Shiro? I’m worried about him.”

 

“Who will guard the fence?”

 

“Go get Pidge and Lance to help. I’m sure they’re ready by now, it’s been awhile since the gunshot.”

 

“Right…” He sighed, “Good luck out there, Allura. You too, Hunk.”

 

“Take care of them.”

 

The two walked away, Coran ran his fingers through his hair. No one needed to watch the gate for now. Besides, Hunk and Allura wouldn’t be back for a couple hours at the least and Lotor certainly wouldn’t attack two days in a row. 

 

For now, it was time to play therapist. 

 

-xxx-

 

He gently knocked on the cabin door.

 

“Shiro?”

 

There was no answer. Coran tried to open the door, but it wouldn’t budge.

 

“Can you let me in? Please?”

 

Footsteps treaded towards the door, but stopped.

 

“Pretty please?..”

 

The door creaked open, Shiro leaned against the door frame. Before Coran could even comment, he spoke.

 

“I’m fine.”

 

“We both know that’s not true. Let’s go sit down.” He grabbed Shiro’s arm and lead him to the couch.

 

“I don’t need to talk about this.”

 

“You’re eyes are red and swelled up. I know you heard the gunshot, I know you started sobbing afterwards because after that I heard you scream. It’s okay to mourn alone for a bit, but you need to talk about it too.”

 

Shiro covered his face, inhaling deeply, “I just got him back, Coran… and I already lost him…”

 

“It’s not your fault.”

 

“I- I know, but… I couldn’t even bring myself to stay with him. I’m supposed to be his best friend and I couldn’t even stay with him!” He cried.

 

“You didn’t want to watch him die, that’s understandable.”

 

“He was scared of dying alone… He always told me that. He trusted me and I wasn’t there for him…”

 

“I know you regret it, but there’s nothing you can do now. He obviously knew that you’d cared for him, you know. I’m sure that was enough.”

 

“I’ve already mourned him once… I can’t do this again…”

 

“Shiro, we are all here for you. You won’t have to do it alone this time. I’m going to go check on Pidge and Lance. I’ll bring them here, we can all talk about what comes next. Alright?”

 

“Yeah… Thank you, Coran.”

 

“Anytime.” He smiled.

 

-xxx-

  
  


“Lance? Pidge? Are you two okay? Have you moved the body yet?” Coran opened the door, covering his eyes, he didn’t want to see any of the gore if they hadn’t cleaned up yet.

 

“Why would we move him? He’s hurt.” Lance asked.

 

Coran furrowed his eyebrows in confusion and slowly lowered his hand. Keith was sitting on the bed playing tic-tac-toe with Pidge in her journal.

 

“What?...”

 

“His fever has mostly gone down, but he’s still fatigued and in pain. We’re probably going to need more painkillers soon. We gave him some alcohol to help a little. Not sure how long that’ll help.”

 

“He sucks at tic-tac-toe now though. It’s kinda funny.”

 

“No, I mean how? Why hasn’t he turned?”

 

“Your guess is as good as mine. I didn’t think I would wake up again.” Keith mumbled.

 

“This is… no one has ever survived a zombie bite to the neck. Let alone a zombie bite anywhere unless amputated, what-”

 

“Coran, we don’t know the answer. He just woke up about an hour ago too, he’s still grumpy.”

 

Keith glared at her. The only reaction he managed to get was a chuckle.

 

“Why is he not tied up? He could turn at any moment!”

 

“Because he can’t write with his right hand yet and the rope was starting to hurt.”

 

“He doesn’t have any symptoms, Coran. I don’t think he’s going to turn.” Lance said happily.

 

“We- We need to get him to Shiro’s cabin.”

 

Keith’s eyes widened and he shot up, trying to ignore the searing pain from his wound, “Shiro? I-Is he okay?”

 

“Don’t stand up so quickly! You could pass out!” 

 

He stood there for a moment and shook his head, “Yeah… Almost did…”

 

Lance sighed and walked over. He threw Keith’s arm around him, placing a hand on his waist, “Come on.”

 

“Is that safe to be so close?”

 

Lance smirked, “I know he’s not taken a bath in a few days, but that’s just rude Coran.”

 

“Very funny. Ha. Ha.” Keith deadpanned.

  
  


When they got to Shiro’s cabin, Coran went in first. Pidge assumed it was to inform him of what exactly happened. (Or some semblance of what might have happened because no one quite knew for sure.)

 

The door swung open and there Shiro stood- astonished.

 

“But…”

 

“Are you okay?” Keith asked him.

 

“Am I- Keith, are  _ you _ okay?! How are you asking  _ me _ that?!” He squeezed Keith tight, making sure not to hurt him, “I thought I lost you! How are you alive?!”

 

Lance stood there awkwardly while they embraced.

 

“I don’t know. I was hoping you could help figure that out.”

 

“I- I heard a gun go off…”

 

Pidge laughed nervously, “I dropped the gun on accident. I was reaching for my book and it fell.”

 

“Oh my God…” Shiro laughed and rain his fingers through his hair, “So, what? He’s okay now? He magically survived?”

 

“I guess. He’s not showing any symptoms.”

 

“That’s impossible. No one at the testing facility ever survived a bite unless the area was amputated.”

 

“Coran told us that already, but that doesn’t explain  _ him _ . The bite went really deep, his arm should be paralyzed at the least, he should be dead by now, but he isn’t.”

 

“I’m  _ right _ here, guys.” Keith sighed.

 

They continued to talk about what they thought could have happened, even though none of the theories made sense. Nothing made sense to them anymore though. Especially Coran’s plan.

 

“Go North? Are you crazy?” Pidge asked.

 

“What?” 

 

“What’s wrong with going North?”

 

“If we go that way we’ll run straight into Salt Lake City!”

 

“We have to go West.”

 

“That will lead us straight into the desert!”

 

“That city had over 200,000 people in it before, imagine how many zombies there will be now! If we head North we face that, if we go East they’ll be faster, and I really don’t want to go back South and see that horde again. The desert is our best option.” Pidge insisted.

 

“...Maybe you’re right. We’ll see what Allura and Hunk say when they get back.”

 

“Where did they go?”

 

“Trying to find a vehicle or two, horse trailer if possible.”

 

“Let’s hope they find enough gas to get us wherever we’re going.” 

 

Keith laughed, obviously still tired, “Well, Lance, if that happens you’ll just have to push us the rest of the way.”

 

“Heck no! I can’t do that!”

 

“Did you seriously just say ‘heck?’”

 

“My mamá would be very disappointed if any curse words came out of my mouth.”

 

“Mhm.” Keith stared at him, gaze slowly trailing down to Lance’s lips. Not that he noticed, no. Lance was too busy rambling about how his mother would stick a bar of soap in his mouth when he said anything remotely ‘adult.’ 

 

“Keith? You with us, Buddy?” Pidge waved her hand in front of his face (much to Coran’s dismay.)

 

A jumbled slur of words quickly escaped his mouth, what they thought to be “Yeah, sure I am.”

 

She laughed, “Okay. Shiro, can you keep an eye on him? I haven’t eaten anything since… I don’t know. A while.”

 

“Of course I can.” He smiled.

 

Coran interjected, “You said you gave him alcohol to dull the pain? Um, how much did he have exactly?”

 

“Well… I poured him a cup, but he took the bottle instead. So, about one cup less than a full bottle of Jack.” Lance rubbed the back of his neck.

 

“Oh, good God…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You didn’t think I was going to let Keith off that easy, right? He still has a cute boy to kiss.
> 
> Tumblr: ash-alert  
> Instagram&Twitter: ash_alert


	16. 16- Road Trip

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hours on the road and familiar faces.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger warnings: bone snapping, mentions of decay, unperscribed use of prescription drugs, syringe(s).
> 
> We’re finally getting to the Klance, y’all.

_ May 13th, 1AZ, 12:00pm _

  
  


_ ‘Hunk and Allura found a van! Unfortunately they didn’t find enough gas to make it through the desert, nearly everything was siphoned out. According to my calculations we only have enough to make it a few hours which will only take us to… drumroll please… Las Vegas.  _

 

_ Yeah, I know, stupid idea. Almost as bad as Salt Lake. We’re only  going to still to the outskirts though. If we find any gas along the way, that’d be great, maybe we won’t have to stop there. _

 

_ In all honesty, I don’t even know where we’re going. The plan is to head West, but how far? Are we going to California? That’d be a good idea—less chance of runners— but would Shiro be okay? That’s where the facility was, right? If we accidentally come across anyone from that place then he’d probably freak out. He’s strong, I know, but PTSD can do horrible things to a person.  _

 

_ Keith is not very Keith like. I mean he is, but he’s drunk so- you know. It’s kind of funny actually? I feel bad for thinking so, but he’s just really lovey dovey on everyone. He’s latched onto me and ruffled my hair at least twice. I wish I could take a video to embarrass him later. _

 

_ Anyway, we decided to leave as soon as they got back and we got everything packed up. We lead the horses to a group Allura knew of a few miles out and guess what? They had children! I haven’t seen a living child in so long it seems, it’s sad… but they looked really happy to have pets. I know they’ll take good care of them. _

 

_ Coran is driving, Hunk in the passenger’s seat, Lance and Allura in the middle seats, and Shiro, Keith, and I are in the back. We sat  back here in hopes that Keith would chill out and lay down, but he’s been relentless. He’s braided my hair, Allura’s, and even some of Shiro’s little tuft of hair he has in the front. I guess if it helps keep him occupied, it’s okay.  _

 

_ I think the only people excited to head towards Las Vegas are Lance and me.  I’m excited because there’s a chance there could be a lot of solar panels there! That means I could take some and maybe fix the car to run on sunlight? I don’t know anything about cars though, maybe Hunk and Coran could help? Lance is probably excited for the zombie strippers or whatever. I can’t think of any other reason he’d enjoy going. _

 

_ I’m running out of space in this journal. Hopefully I can find another one soon. I’ll stop writing until something big comes up. For now it’s just about one hundred miles to go.’ _

  
  


_ May 13th, 1AZ, 1:50pm _

  
  


Coran parked the van on the outskirts of the city and turned off the engine. As far as they could see, only a few zombies were scattered around, but they knew better than to think they would be that lucky. In the city awaited hundreds more of the creatures, they had to be careful about this. 

 

“Okay, we need a plan. The van is almost out of gas so we definitely need to find more.”

 

“Shiro and Allura, Pidge and Hunk, you go and try to find some fuel. If you find anything else useful, try to get it too.”

 

“I can’t get up.” Pidge said, “Keith fell asleep on me.”

 

“Move him then, he’ll be fine.” Coran huffed a laugh, “Lance and I will stay here and watch over the van in case of bandits or more undead.”

 

“Alright. Stay safe.”

 

“You too.” Coran smiled as he waved them off. He turned to Lance and Keith, who had woken up when Pidge moved, “Can you two stay in here while I do some basic maintenance?”

 

“Are you sure you don’t want us to come out with you?”

 

“Psh! I’ll be fine! If there comes to be anything I can handle I’ll yell and let you know.”

 

“Alright…” Lance frowned. 

 

Coran got out of the van, door slamming behind him. There was silence. Lance realized that he and Keith had never really interacted without others around. It suddenly felt like he didn’t know what to say. 

 

Which rarely happened to him.

 

He moved to the back of the vehicle and sat down next  to Keith awkwardly. What was he supposed to do until Coran got back? His thoughts always turned to static around this man and he hated it.

 

But he had to say something. He couldn’t stand the silence of the apocalypse.

 

“How’s your shoulder?”

 

Keith stared at him, still not fully awake, “Hurts…”

 

“Yeah, I mean… Yeah. Why wouldn’t it, right?...” His words trailed off.

 

“You can go outside with Coran if you’re not comfortable with me. It’s okay.”

 

“What? No! It’s not that I’m uncomfortable. It’s just…”

 

“You’re still scared.”

 

Lance scoffed, “I’m not scared of  _ you. _ You’re the least frightening thing on the planet.” 

 

“I don’t know if that was an insult or a compliment.”

 

“...I don’t either.” He chuckled.

 

It was getting slightly easier at least. They weren’t fighting again, that was a good sign. Lance cheered himself on in his head.

 

_ ‘Nice. Just keep the small talk going, you’ll be fine.’ _

 

“You wish you could be out there instead?”

 

“Yes…”

 

“Yeah. I bet there are a whole lot of zombie strippers out there.”

 

Keith stared at him once again, this time, concerned, “Dude. Gross.”

 

He laughed, “What? I’m just saying!”

 

“Please don’t have sexual intercourse with a zombie.”

 

“Please don’t say ‘sexual intercourse’ again. You sound like a high school teacher who is too afraid to say ‘sex.’”

 

“Don’t fuck a zombie then. Better?”

 

“Debatably.” He grinned.

 

Keith leaned over and rested his head on Lance’s shoulder.

 

“Wow, you really are out of it, aren’t you?”

 

“Shut up.” 

 

“I don’t know how you’re doing it. I can’t sleep unless there’s some kind of noise. I had to listen to music to go to sleep before.”

 

“Is that why you always look tired?”

 

“I look great, thank you!” Lance defended.

 

“You look like you haven’t slept well in months.”

 

“Well, I guess that’s technically correct…”

 

“Reach in my  right ammo pouch.”

 

“What?”

 

“The thing strapped around my thigh. I can’t move my arm to do it.”

 

“Okay?..” Lance extended the syllables in confusion. He opened the pouch and reached in, felt something cold and what seemed to be a cord. He looked up at Keith.

 

“Don’t make this any weirder than it already is. Just get it.”

 

Lance pulled the device out. A small, gray mp3, with headphones tied around it. 

 

“Where did you get this?”

 

“I found it…” He paused, “I found it at a tech store a few months ago. They weren’t gonna be able to sell it so… Took it.”

 

It was actually a gift from someone a very long time ago, but if Lance knew that, he wasn't sure if he would accept it.

 

“Don’t you use it?”

 

“I like to be able to hear everything around me. If I catch you using that for anything other than trying to go to sleep, I  _ will _ take it back. You need to be safe.”

 

“I- I know.” He smiled.

 

“It runs on AAA batteries, I have a couple spare, but after that you’ll need to get more. The songs on there are mostly classic rock so you might have to deal with that.”

 

“Thank you so much…” 

 

“It’s not a big deal.” 

 

They sat in silence for a bit. Lance played with the mp3, clicking through the songs and seeing which ones had the softest rhythms. 

 

Keith just watched. He tried to figure out if giving it away was a mistake. He really hoped it wasn’t. Lance noticed his staring, but something unsettling grabbed his attention.

 

“Have your eyes always been that purple?..”

 

There was a quick set of knocks on the outside of the van. Coran tried to tell them something, but his voice was too muffled to hear. 

 

“Coran?”

 

They heard his muffled voice once again. Keith quickly exited the van and Lance followed suit. Coran stood with a screwdriver in his hand, talking to two people.

 

A tall, tanned man with blonde (almost white) hair and tired dark brown eyes and a pale blonde woman holding a small white dog. They looked tired.

 

“Tienes que estar bromeando…”

 

“Oh my God.” The woman said in disbelief.

 

“Um… Do you all know each other?” Coran asked

 

“They tried to rob us and they hurt Keith!”

 

“They what?!”

 

Nyma put a hand up slightly, “Wait! We know what we did was bad! But we really need help!”

 

“We’ve stopped robbing people. I know you have no reason to trust us, but we really need some water. We can trade you some pain meds.”

 

Coran looked at Lance, “We have plenty of water for the trip. They can have some.”

 

“They hurt Keith!”

 

“Lance, I’m fine. It was just a cigarette. We can’t let them die.”

 

“What, because they have a dog?”

 

Keith’s gaze dropped to the floor. Rolo raised an eyebrow.

 

“What happened to your shoulder?”

 

He knew better than to tell them that he was bitten, “I cut myself trying to get through a tight space. I’m fine.”

 

“Are you sure? We can help.”

 

“No. I’ll get your water.”

 

Lance crossed his arms and huffed. While Keith fetched the water, Coran made polite conversation with their visitors. Apparently, they were heading West too, but hadn’t found any water in a few days. 

 

Keith’s spoke up from the back of the van, worried and barely audible, “Lance? Coran?..”

 

“The water is in the middle row!”

 

“That’s not what I’m worried about…”

 

The small group made there way back, some faster than others, but what they saw made them stop dead in their tracks.

 

A walker was standing right next to Keith. It seemed to be sniffing him, its rotted and mutilated face just inches away from his. It didn’t attack or show any aggression at all. He looked at Coran and mouthed a single word. 

 

“Help…”

 

As soon as the zombie noticed them, it growled and forgot about Keith. It shambled towards Lance, broken ankle snapping with every other step. Rolo stepped into action and stabbed it in the skull with the screwdriver he had placed on his belt, its corpse falling to the ground. They all stared at Keith, but his eyes were only on the corpse.

 

“Why didn’t it try to bite you?..” Nyma asked, almost as frightened as he was.

 

He took a few moments to gather himself before shaking his head, “I don’t know… Here’s your water.”

 

The two (and Beezer) took it gratefully and said their goodbyes after giving them the medication in exchange.

 

“Be careful with that. It could make you dizzy and very, very tired. Trust me.” Rolo grinned.

 

“Well, I have been since the injury so it won’t be that much of a problem. Good luck out there.” He sighed.

 

After they were gone, the three got back in the van. Coran reading a book in the driver’s seat.

 

“We can talk about whatever that was with the zombie when the rest of the group gets back, but why would you trust those two? They hurt you…”

 

“I don’t trust them. It would be a shame for such a cute face to go to waste though, don’t you think?” Keith chuckled as he stuck the syringe into the small bottle they were given.

 

“Well, she is pretty attractive.” 

 

He gave a questioning look, “I guess so, but I was talking about Rolo.”

 

“...Seriously? Him out of the two?”

 

“Yeah. Plus, you were right. They had a dog. If there is one thing I’m never going to say no to, it’s a dog.”

 

Lance rolled his eyes.

 

“Do you— um— need help with the shot?”

 

“I… don’t know where to put it…” Keith glared at the needle.

 

Lance took the syringe and bottle, reading the label carefully, “It says it goes into your muscles so I think… pretty much anywhere is— I mean,  _ would be  _ fine.”

 

“You know how to do this, right?”

 

“Sure I do! I’ve done it once before!” Lance smiled.

 

“Is this that one time?..”

 

“That’s not something that will help your nerves right now, Keith, shut up and give me your arm.”

 

After an hour of whining about his arm hurting, Keith finally fell asleep and exhausted from the long ride, Lance decided he would try to as well. He slipped the earbuds in, set a sleep timer, and pressed shuffle. He slowly fell asleep listening to a jazzy piano and a good old-fashioned love song.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> “Ooh love   
> Ooh lover boy   
> What're you doing tonight, hey boy  
> Everything's all right, just hold on tight  
> That's because I'm a good old-fashioned lover boy”
> 
>  
> 
> Tumblr: ash-alert  
> IG&Twitter: ash-alert


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